Gouws Capital LLC Sells 1,125 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Gouws Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,125 shares during the period. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,480,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in AbbVie by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,709,000 after purchasing an additional 6,139 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $170.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $301.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.27, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $176.23 and its 200 day moving average is $159.21.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James increased their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC cut AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.