AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.5% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of AbbVie worth $30,754,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $209.98 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $194.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.68 billion, a PE ratio of 87.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given 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 3.12%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently 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.