AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Trimmed by Clarkston Capital Partners LLC

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 20.3% during 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 196.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 68,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,499,000 after acquiring an additional 45,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,816,000 after purchasing an additional 9,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $186.58 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $200.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.21. The firm has a market cap of $330.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.74, 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 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 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie 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.