Stiles Financial Services Inc Lowers Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Stiles Financial Services Inc trimmed its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 809 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after purchasing an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after purchasing an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.29.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $185.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $327.06 billion, a PE ratio of 78.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.78.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 279.15%.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.