Premier Fund Managers Ltd Has $1.35 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 45.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,647 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $217,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,436,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $152,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $202.79 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $357.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.96.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.