Summit Global Investments Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Summit Global Investments grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,265 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Swedbank AB lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 12.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares during the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 16.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 19,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.9 %

AbbVie stock opened at $209.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $370.68 billion, a PE ratio of 87.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $194.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.67.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Company 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.