Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 52.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 227,063 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250,744 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $35,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 89,097.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,719,514,000 after buying an additional 29,170,366 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $3,033,348,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 29,922.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after buying an additional 6,012,281 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 31,571,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,102,311,000 after buying an additional 4,785,277 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 426.5% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,652,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,155,000 after buying an additional 3,768,579 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $1.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $164.24. 4,792,165 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,653,147. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.01 and a 200-day moving average of $159.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.11%.

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.