Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,989 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,609 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,459,385,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,466,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $186.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.22 billion, a PE ratio of 77.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.13. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.