Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 29,034 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,939 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,034 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in AbbVie were worth $33,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. State Street Corp grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company's stock worth $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% during the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company's stock worth $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company's stock worth $2,691,732,000 after buying an additional 511,470 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,993,734 shares of the company's stock worth $528,993,000 after buying an additional 483,455 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $205.06. 5,692,933 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,871,798. The company has a market capitalization of $362.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.44, a P/E/G 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 $207.32. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $183.75 and a 200 day moving average of $186.85.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.