AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,371 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,986 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 89,097.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,719,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,170,366 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $3,033,348,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,186,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012,281 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 31,571,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,102,311,000 after acquiring an additional 4,785,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 426.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,652,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. HSBC cut AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $181.97 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.96. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.11%.

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.