Legal & General Group Plc Sells 3,594,611 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,584,613 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,594,611 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 0.5% of Legal & General Group Plc's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.66% of AbbVie worth $2,058,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares during the period. United Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 199.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 710 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 30,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,097,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded down $5.33 on Thursday, hitting $174.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,411,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,894,452. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $200.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.74. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 3.76%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.71.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.