Sterling Investment Management LLC Sells 472 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 2.1% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after buying an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in AbbVie by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after purchasing an additional 778,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:ABBV opened at $191.27 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $183.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.32. The company has a market cap of $337.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.52 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were 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 owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.