Capital World Investors Has $2.92 Billion Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,410,277 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 959,242 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 0.93% of AbbVie worth $2,915,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 5,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the 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 directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $172.78 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $198.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.82. 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 company has a market cap of $305.64 billion, a PE ratio of 71.99, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

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.