Morningstar Investment Management LLC Sells 27,852 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Morningstar Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 81.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,852 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its stake in AbbVie by 115.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.43.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1%

ABBV opened at $216.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $381.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.41, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.71 and a twelve month high of $244.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $208.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.73.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares in the company, valued at $8,771,510. The trade was a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.