CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,029 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,978 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.0% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $38,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,480,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.0% in the third quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 21.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,709,000 after acquiring an additional 6,139 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $170.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.21. 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 $301.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.60 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. Truist Financial increased their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 11th. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC lowered AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

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.