Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 172,042 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,554 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 1.0% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $26,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 94,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,707,000 after acquiring an additional 12,688 shares during the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 22,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 58,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,141,000 after purchasing an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.31.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock traded up $2.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $163.79. 5,850,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $173.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $290.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.60, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

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.