Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 17,305 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,091 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,305 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $18,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock worth $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,687,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,008,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.45.

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AbbVie Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE ABBV traded up $4.35 on Monday, reaching $209.64. The company had a trading volume of 5,329,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,307,321. The business has a 50 day moving average of $197.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.91. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The firm has a market cap of $370.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.