Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Lowers Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. decreased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 975 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $185.64 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.73. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $327.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.