Forte Capital LLC ADV Decreases Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Forte Capital LLC ADV decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 866 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after buying an additional 1,450,089 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in AbbVie by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,085,000 after purchasing an additional 914,485 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,269,822,000 after purchasing an additional 491,391 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,276,000 after buying an additional 352,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,098,436,000 after buying an additional 199,833 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $2.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.79. 5,850,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.13 and its 200 day moving average is $161.22. The stock has a market cap of $290.01 billion, a PE ratio of 48.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

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.