Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. cut its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 602,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92,598 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises approximately 0.8% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $137,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $222.62 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $181.73 and a one year high of $244.81. The firm has a market cap of $393.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, June 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $249.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.43.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.