AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Purchased by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,611 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012,281 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,463,000 after buying an additional 1,130,638 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ABBV. Barclays reduced their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.7 %

ABBV stock opened at $162.69 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The firm has a market cap of $288.07 billion, a PE ratio of 48.28, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

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.