Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $460.39 Million Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,590,852 shares of the company's stock after selling 252,152 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.15% of AbbVie worth $460,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 2.2 %

ABBV traded up $4.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $209.83. The stock had a trading volume of 11,093,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,725,897. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $197.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year 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, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.