Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,900 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,384 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $23,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA now owns 9,837 shares of the company's stock worth $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $3,256,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 601,040 shares of the company's stock worth $106,805,000 after purchasing an additional 52,379 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 501,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,128,000 after purchasing an additional 7,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 79,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,183,000 after buying an additional 6,893 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.19.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE ABBV traded up $5.28 on Friday, hitting $185.65. 6,261,062 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,046,205. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $197.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The company has a market cap of $328.40 billion, a PE ratio of 77.48, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.05). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last three months. 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.