Poplar Forest Capital LLC Sells 175 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC cut its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% in the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 240.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $167.83. 4,074,754 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,594,750. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $175.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

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.