Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Decreases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,481 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,316 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in AbbVie were worth $59,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock worth $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company's stock worth $3,064,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock traded up $5.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $198.62. The company had a trading volume of 6,424,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,081,995. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $196.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.23. The company has a market capitalization of $351.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 279.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AbbVie from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.41.

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.