Martingale Asset Management L P Has $26.70 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,233 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,495 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $26,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research 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.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $175.03 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $200.79 and its 200-day moving average is $188.90. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $309.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.93, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

About AbbVie

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.