Aristotle Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Aristotle Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,615 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,040 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company's stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company's stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. 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. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock traded down $2.43 on Monday, reaching $196.04. 5,120,647 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,078,152. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $196.14 and a 200-day moving average of $187.22. The firm has a market cap of $346.79 billion, a PE ratio of 81.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 279.15%.

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.