AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Raised by Homestead Advisers Corp

Homestead Advisers Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 712,660 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,800 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 3.1% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $126,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,687,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,875 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $201.16 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $196.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.