Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 0.5% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.79% of AbbVie worth $30,754,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $209.98 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.67. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.