ING Groep NV Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

ING Groep NV grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 78.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 598,335 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 263,557 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.7% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $106,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 10,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 5,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 32,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 17,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,170,000 after purchasing an additional 4,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $197.30 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $179.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.11. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $348.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.