Private Management Group Inc. Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Private Management Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,813 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% during the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 240.0% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% during the third quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. 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 research note on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock traded down $1.74 on Wednesday, hitting $167.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,974,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,572,815. 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 simple moving average is $175.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.57. The stock has a market cap of $297.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its 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 net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

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.