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

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,902 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,747 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% during the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $164.25 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The firm has a market cap of $290.83 billion, a PE ratio of 60.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie 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 of the company’s stock, 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 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

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.