Axa S.A. Boosts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

AXA S.A. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 971,893 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares during the period. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.05% of AbbVie worth $172,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE ABBV traded down $2.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $196.04. 5,120,647 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,078,152. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $196.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.22. 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 $346.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.68, a PEG 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 (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 3.35%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

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.