ING Groep NV Raises Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 78.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 598,335 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 263,557 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 0.7% of ING Groep NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $106,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $8,777,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after acquiring an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 3.7% during the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $197.30 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.11. The company has a market cap of $348.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.