Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Acquires 79,267 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,912,084 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 79,267 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 4.5% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $451,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American National Bank increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 30,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after purchasing an additional 7,737 shares during the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 21.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,936,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV traded down $3.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $159.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,893,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,527,891. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The stock has a market cap of $281.85 billion, a PE ratio of 47.44, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $169.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 179.47% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.26 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, May 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James boosted their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 13,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.51, for a total transaction of $2,441,295.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,000,989.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 330,454 shares of company stock valued at $58,595,955 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.