Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 106,091 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,305 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $18,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA raised its holdings in AbbVie by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 48,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,545,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 15,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,833,000 after buying an additional 5,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $484,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $205.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $197.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.02. 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 announced 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.