Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,328 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,030 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.32.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $6.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $192.43. 10,397,934 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,062,959. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $340.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.18, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

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.