National Pension Service Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

National Pension Service increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,416,539 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 65,017 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.6% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned about 0.19% of AbbVie worth $607,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $204.19 on Wednesday. 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 $207.32. The company has a market cap of $360.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.08, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $182.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

AbbVie 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.