Sage Investment Advisers LLC Sells 278 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sage Investment Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,585 shares of the company’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,085,000 after acquiring an additional 914,485 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,415 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,269,822,000 after purchasing an additional 491,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,098,436,000 after purchasing an additional 199,833 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James increased 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. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.31.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV traded down $2.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.45. 5,803,483 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,661,256. The company has a market cap of $284.10 billion, a PE ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $182.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. AbbVie’s 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.