6,000 Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Purchased by Select Asset Management & Trust

Select Asset Management & Trust purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,066,000. AbbVie accounts for 0.4% of Select Asset Management & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after buying an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after buying an additional 778,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $172.78 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $198.47 and a 200-day moving average of $187.71. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $305.64 billion, a PE ratio of 71.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. 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 3.80%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.