AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,579,230 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,564 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $458,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,586,948,000 after buying an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,038,898,000 after buying an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

AbbVie stock opened at $172.78 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $305.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.99, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $198.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 last year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last 90 days. 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.