AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Clarkston Capital Partners LLC

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 196.9% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 68,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,499,000 after buying an additional 45,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 10.2% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,816,000 after buying an additional 9,298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Down 7.5 %

AbbVie stock opened at $186.58 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 3.52%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.