AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,513 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GGM Financials LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% during the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $184.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.98. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $209.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.11, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

AbbVie Company 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.