AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Holdings Decreased by Private Management Group Inc.

Private Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,813 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,012,281 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 34.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,638 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $167.80. 3,974,063 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,572,815. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.57. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89. The firm has a market cap of $297.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 3.69%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.