AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Lowered by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lessened its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 670 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 227,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 23.0% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 4,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 10.2% during the second quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 1.6% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 32,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,621,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $272,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $174.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $309.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.72, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.00.

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.