Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,702,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,951,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 154,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,498,000 after buying an additional 7,684 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 513,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,162,000 after buying an additional 6,690 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $211.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.57 billion, a PE ratio of 88.17, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $215.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $186.27 and its 200 day moving average is $187.31.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.