Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP Acquires New Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,144,000. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.8% of Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $202.79 on Friday. 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 $357.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.50, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.96.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.