Korea Investment CORP Sells 34,505 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Korea Investment CORP decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,324,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,505 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.6% of Korea Investment CORP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.07% of AbbVie worth $235,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares during the period. United Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth $1,436,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $201.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $355.13 billion, a PE ratio of 83.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $196.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.87. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

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.