T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 99.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,661,205 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.41.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $193.55. 6,671,296 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,065,383. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $342.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.65, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion for 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%. AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.