Senator Investment Group LP Takes Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Senator Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 260,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,202,000. AbbVie comprises about 1.4% of Senator Investment Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 55,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,133 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in AbbVie by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 92,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,513,000 after acquiring an additional 41,082 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $159,000. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 30,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,422,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. UBS Group increased their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

ABBV stock opened at $172.78 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $198.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.71. The company has a market capitalization of $305.64 billion, a P/E 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.