Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Acquires Shares of 1,048,600 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,048,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,431,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in 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. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $203.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $183.08 and a 200-day moving average of $186.72. The company has a market capitalization of $358.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.62, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.