WASHINGTON TRUST Co Buys 2,586 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,407 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,586 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. VitalStone Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 218.4% in the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 242 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $38,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $181.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,619,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,631,993. The business’s 50 day moving average is $174.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a market cap of $321.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. HSBC downgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $167.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

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.