AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 362,012 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,504 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 3.3% of Welch Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Welch Group LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $74,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 14,668 shares of the company's stock worth $3,073,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in AbbVie by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 6,246 shares of the company's stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 20,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,272,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of ABBV stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $186.78. 3,417,936 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,218,899. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The business's fifty day moving average is $185.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.49. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.83 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price target (down from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.95.

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.