Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,590,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 252,152 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $460,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd 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. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares during the period. United Bank bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $217,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $152,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 17.5% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 102,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,294,000 after purchasing an additional 15,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $205.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $197.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.95. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 firm posted $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.