Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 5.9% during the first quarter, now owning 46,665 shares valued at approximately $9.78 million.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.5%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 279.15%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for AbbVie, with an average price target set at $211.29, indicating optimism for the stock's performance.

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,665 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,908 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.9% of Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in AbbVie by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,236,000 after buying an additional 2,299,645 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in AbbVie by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company's stock worth $1,735,969,000 after buying an additional 2,102,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock worth $2,142,832,000 after buying an additional 1,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim raised their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.81.

AbbVie Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of ABBV traded up $6.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $195.17. The company had a trading volume of 8,081,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,440,562. The firm has a market cap of $344.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $188.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 518.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

AbbVie Company 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.