Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 184,249 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,638 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $32,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% in 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 valued at $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares in the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. UBS Group upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $206.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.0 %

ABBV traded up $2.05 on Thursday, hitting $205.06. 5,692,933 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,871,798. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.00 billion, a PE ratio of 85.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. 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.