Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 21,790 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,803 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,790 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $44,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,698,847,000 after acquiring an additional 992,496 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,382,000 after acquiring an additional 134,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after buying an additional 1,240,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.69.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $188.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.85 and a fifty-two week high of $199.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.70. The stock has a market cap of $332.99 billion, a PE ratio of 55.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

AbbVie Company 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.