T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Trims Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 99.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,661,205 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company's stock worth $6,586,948,000 after purchasing an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $193.67. 2,376,604 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,062,042. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $342.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.