Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 1,297 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,719 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its position in AbbVie by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 195,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,731,000 after purchasing an additional 6,375 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $885,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,227,000 after buying an additional 259,051 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $211.54 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $193.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.64. The stock has a market cap of $373.44 billion, a PE ratio of 88.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.