Premier Fund Managers Ltd Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,647 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 142,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,390,000 after buying an additional 4,961 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 817,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,250,000 after acquiring an additional 26,771 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,178,469 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,414,000 after purchasing an additional 95,711 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,385 shares of the company's stock worth $3,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Finally, Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $21,144,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim raised their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $1.31 during trading on Monday, reaching $206.60. 3,350,405 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,276,844. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $365.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $197.50 and its 200-day moving average is $188.91.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last three months. Company 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.