Avidity Partners Management LP Decreases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Avidity Partners Management LP decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 80,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,300 shares during the period. Avidity Partners Management LP’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after buying an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,590,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in AbbVie by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $198.62 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $351.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.76, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $196.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.23.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.41.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.