Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,989 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,609 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in AbbVie by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in AbbVie by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $186.11 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $200.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $329.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’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 value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.