Artemis Investment Management LLP Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 633.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 483,827 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 417,839 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.2% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $85,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,382,000 after purchasing an additional 134,239 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during 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 worth $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after purchasing an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two 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 a consensus price target of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.75. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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