Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,072 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Doliver Advisors LP lifted its position in AbbVie by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 5,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.6 %

ABBV stock opened at $206.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $364.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.87, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.11.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Insiders own 0.08% 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.