Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,337 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,040 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 0.9% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in AbbVie were worth $10,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,777,000. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 286,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,535,000 after buying an additional 24,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 106.1% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 707 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.35.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $202.03. 5,879,957 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,841,370. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $356.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.18, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's fifty day moving average is $180.68 and its 200-day moving average is $186.29. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.