Palisade Asset Management LLC Has $9.11 Million Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Palisade Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 132 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Centric Wealth Management boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 9,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,569,000 after buying an additional 1,702,415 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 64,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,026,000 after buying an additional 5,519 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 66,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,357,000 after acquiring an additional 18,902 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded down $2.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.45. The stock had a trading volume of 5,734,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,643,670. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $172.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.62. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The stock has a market cap of $284.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

About AbbVie

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.