AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Trimmed by Sterling Investment Management LLC

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 445 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 2.3% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 89,097.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,719,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,170,366 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,033,348,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012,281 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 31,571,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,102,311,000 after acquiring an additional 4,785,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 426.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,652,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

ABBV opened at $180.35 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $174.15 and a 200-day moving average of $157.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given 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 target price of $177.43.

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.