Schroder Investment Management Group Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Schroder Investment Management Group decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,426,105 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235,739 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.14% of AbbVie worth $431,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares during the period. United Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $217,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $152,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 102,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,294,000 after purchasing an additional 15,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2 %

ABBV stock opened at $205.12 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.95. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The firm has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a PE ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.