AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,465,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,560 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $438,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,777,000. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 750,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,086,000 after acquiring an additional 40,925 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Five 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % 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. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $193.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.03. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.