Pinebridge Investments L.P. Sells 204,292 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 62.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 204,292 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $22,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,403,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aldebaran Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $466,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABBV. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $214.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.19.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $177.28 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.60 billion, a PE ratio of 73.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $197.30 and its 200-day moving average is $187.37. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.