AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Diversified LLC

Diversified LLC cut its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 497 shares during the period. Diversified LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 purchasing an additional 6,012,281 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after buying an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,242,000 after buying an additional 1,433,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,463,000 after buying an additional 1,130,638 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, 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 transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other AbbVie news, 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 transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $168.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,641,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,583,563. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.44 and a 200 day moving average of $160.28. The company has a market capitalization of $297.95 billion, a PE ratio of 61.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

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.