AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,391 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,443 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 30.4% in 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 grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company's stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price target (down previously from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.19.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.3%

AbbVie stock traded up $2.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $189.89. 3,604,574 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,227,125. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $335.42 billion, a PE ratio of 79.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.80.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.