Barnett & Company Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Barnett & Company Inc. has reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 12.6% during the first quarter, holding 23,897 shares valued at approximately $5 million.
• Despite the reduction in holdings by Barnett, institutional investors own 70.23% of AbbVie's stock, indicating a significant level of confidence in the company.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 312.38%.

Barnett & Company Inc. cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,897 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,432 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 4.2% of Barnett & Company Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Barnett & Company Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 119,141 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.4%

ABBV opened at $198.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The firm's fifty day moving average is $189.65 and its 200 day moving average is $191.21. The stock has a market cap of $349.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 312.38%.

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.

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