Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Purchases 633,923 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 113.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,191,255 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 633,923 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.07% of AbbVie worth $211,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,351,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,097,000. Guardian Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 74,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,320,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 14,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $130,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock traded up $5.28 on Friday, reaching $198.62. 6,424,665 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,081,067. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.35 billion, a PE ratio of 82.76, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $196.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.25. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities 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. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average 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.