AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Position Raised by Bellevue Group AG

Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,259 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the quarter. Bellevue Group AG's holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company's stock worth $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in AbbVie by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,993,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,993,000 after buying an additional 483,455 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in AbbVie by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 19,300 shares of the company's stock worth $3,430,000 after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 10,679 shares of the company's stock worth $1,898,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Iowa State Bank increased its position in AbbVie by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 53,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,492,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $187.87. 5,766,654 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,091,091. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average is $195.64 and its 200 day moving average is $187.27. The stock has a market cap of $332.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The firm'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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim raised their price target on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.