Ancora Advisors LLC Has $62.31 Million Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ancora Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350,638 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,328 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.4% of Ancora Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $62,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,064,773,000 after buying an additional 3,373,156 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Evercore ISI increased their price target on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of AbbVie from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Trading Up 2.7 %

ABBV opened at $198.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $351.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $196.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.25. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS 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 business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.

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