Poplar Forest Capital LLC Has $2.58 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,513 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% during the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.98. The firm has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a PE ratio of 87.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $209.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.