Palisade Asset Management LLC Has $13.96 Million Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 24.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,623 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,130 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 1.4% of Palisade Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Palisade Asset Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $13,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company's stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 8,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.29.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded down $4.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $181.89. 29,262,557 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,322,369. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $186.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.52 and a twelve month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

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.