Natural Investments LLC Buys New Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 42,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,533,000. AbbVie comprises 2.1% of Natural Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 3.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after buying an additional 511,470 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in AbbVie by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after buying an additional 373,802 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % 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 Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value 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 approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $216.62 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.61. The firm has a market cap of $382.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given 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 3.03%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

AbbVie 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.