Polaris Capital Management LLC Sells 22,167 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Polaris Capital Management trimmed its AbbVie stake by 15.6%, selling 22,167 shares and reducing its holding to 119,777 shares (worth about $27.37 million), making AbbVie 2.3% of its portfolio and its 20th largest holding.
• Regulatory setback: the U.S. FDA issued a Complete Response Letter for AbbVie's trenibotulinumtoxinE citing manufacturing/process issues, delaying potential commercialization and creating near-term uncertainty for the program.
• Insider activity and payout: two senior executives (SVP David Purdue and EVP Perry Siatis) sold sizable positions recently, while AbbVie announced a $1.73 quarterly dividend (annualized $6.92, ~3.5% yield) and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" target of $253.19.

Polaris Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 119,777 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,167 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 2.3% of Polaris Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $27,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 457.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,439,714,000 after purchasing an additional 8,646,424 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 41.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 9,337,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,733,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753,312 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in AbbVie by 31.8% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,281,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,685,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758,657 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in AbbVie by 15.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 10,508,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,418,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $279,609,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,771,510. The trade was a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $262.00 target price for the company. Barclays began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $242.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.19.

AbbVie News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie announced a major strategic investment: a $1.4 billion, AI-enabled manufacturing campus in Durham, NC that will create hundreds of permanent jobs and supports capacity for immunology, neuroscience and oncology medicines. This strengthens manufacturing footprint and long-term growth/production capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord initiated coverage with a Buy and $262 price target (recent coverage highlighted AbbVie as a buy on pullback), providing bullish analyst support and upside from current levels. Analyst upgrades can buoy sentiment and attract inflows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie struck an exclusive licensing deal with Haisco for development of pain medicines, expanding its pipeline and potential addressable market for pain therapeutics. Partnership deals can add optionality to future revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street previews and model-level estimates for Q1 (sales and key metric breakdowns) are circulating ahead of AbbVie’s April 29 earnings; these projections set expectations traders will use for the report. Meeting or beating estimates could stabilize the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to discuss AbbVie as a dividend-growth candidate and a long-term defensive healthcare holding; this maintains baseline investor interest but is unlikely to move shares sharply near-term. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. FDA issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) for AbbVie’s trenibotulinumtoxinE (TrenibotE) — citing manufacturing/process issues rather than new clinical trials. AbbVie said it will respond and believes it can address comments, but the CRL delays potential commercialization and near-term revenue expectations for the neurotoxin program. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets report the CRL is tied to manufacturing concerns; while AbbVie noted no additional clinical studies were requested, regulatory manufacturing issues create uncertainty on timing and cost to obtain approval — a near-term headwind for sentiment. Article Title

AbbVie Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $198.71 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.57 and a 52 week high of $244.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $351.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.20, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.33.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.91% and a negative return on equity of 1,579.75%. The business had revenue of $16.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. AbbVie has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.370-14.570 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.970-3.010 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 293.22%.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie's product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women's health.

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