AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,378 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,211 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Miller Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $245,000. Sollinda Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC now owns 3,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 82,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,607,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 112,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,039,000 after buying an additional 13,542 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.4 %

ABBV opened at $213.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market cap of $377.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $189.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.73. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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 last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim increased their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.