AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,248 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $8,777,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in AbbVie by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 750,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,086,000 after buying an additional 40,925 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares in the last quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in 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. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of 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. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $193.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its 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 return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.