Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 161,765 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 416,351 shares of the company’s stock after selling 161,765 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $73,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $309,000. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,254,000 after purchasing an additional 3,657 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,905,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 90,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $185.64 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $190.77 and its 200 day moving average is $186.73.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price (down from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.95.

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.