AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,963,812 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,818 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $882,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 7,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 90,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,034,000 after purchasing an additional 7,771 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 953,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,506,000 after purchasing an additional 18,294 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 340.0% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ABBV. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $186.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm has a market cap of $330.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

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.