Brown Advisory Inc. Acquires 20,150 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 840,660 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,150 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $149,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,373,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded down $2.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $196.04. 5,120,647 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,078,153. 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 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $196.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.27.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

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.