Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 185 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,082,000 after acquiring an additional 3,214 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 873,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,000,000 after purchasing an additional 39,454 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 15,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its position in AbbVie by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $186.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $200.61 and a 200 day moving average of $189.18.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three 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 $211.45.

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.