Arizona State Retirement System Has $91.16 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 513,008 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,690 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 0.6% of Arizona State Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in AbbVie were worth $91,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:ABBV traded up $3.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $211.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,752,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,109,327. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $186.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.31. 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 twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $215.66. The stock has a market cap of $373.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim increased their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.