tru Independence LLC Reduces Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

tru Independence LLC trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,308 shares of the company’s stock after selling 164 shares during the period. tru Independence LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 89.5% during the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 4,371 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 227,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.5% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 48,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,236,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $4,336,000. Finally, Invst LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 23.0% in the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 4,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 3.9 %

AbbVie stock opened at $176.90 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $175.84 and its 200 day moving average is $184.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.60 billion, a PE ratio of 61.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.