Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 50,243 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,974,631 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 50,243 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $883,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Truist Financial upped 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. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2 %

AbbVie stock opened at $205.12 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The stock 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $197.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.91.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results 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 last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 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.