AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 56.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 320,390 shares during the period. FIL Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $43,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,403,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $173.80 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.44 billion, a PE ratio of 72.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $200.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.60. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

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.