Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 19,051 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 215,333 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,051 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.5% of Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $38,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $217,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,436,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.25 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $195.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.73. The company has a market capitalization of $369.40 billion, a PE ratio of 87.19, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.