Sapient Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 230,088 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,811 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 1.0% of Sapient Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $48,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. EnRich Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.29.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $190.67. The stock had a trading volume of 4,965,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,251,458. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $184.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.52. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $336.80 billion, a PE ratio of 79.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie 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.