Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Purchases 173 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,902 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,064,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.41.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $184.30 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. 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 company has a market capitalization of $326.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.23.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 279.15%.

About AbbVie

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.