AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Buys 14,957 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 497,875 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,957 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 1.2% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $88,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp lifted its position in AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after buying an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $170.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.84 and a 200-day moving average of $184.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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 return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.