Kennedy Capital Management LLC Buys 12,675 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,138 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,675 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $19,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company's stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock traded up $3.60 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $178.65. 2,518,116 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,933,759. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $200.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.47. The company has a market cap of $316.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.71.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 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.