AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 34.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,325 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $202.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $356.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $181.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.