Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 3,753 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,799 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,753 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $28,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. GGM Financials LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company's stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,575,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company's stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp raised its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company's stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV traded down $2.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $171.49. 7,581,211 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,943,678. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $175.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

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.