River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 2,747 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,902 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,747 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $164.25 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $175.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.60 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

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.