Comerica Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Comerica Bank trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 838,616 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,242 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 0.6% of Comerica Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Comerica Bank’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $149,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

AbbVie stock opened at $193.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The company has a market capitalization of $342.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.16.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

AbbVie 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.