AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Purchased by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,047 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $205.12 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.91. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The firm has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 released its 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 in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.