Bailard Inc. Purchases 10,893 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Bailard Inc. increased its AbbVie stake by 24% in the fourth quarter, buying 10,893 shares and bringing its total holding to 56,246 shares worth about $12.85 million.
• AbbVie reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.65 versus estimates of $2.59 and revenue of $15 billion, up 12.4% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.73 per share, equal to an annualized payout of $6.92 and a yield of 3.4%, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $252.90.

Bailard Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,246 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,893 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,044,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,888,000 after buying an additional 151,644 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,747,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,155,601,000 after buying an additional 448,554 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,024,000 after buying an additional 81,625 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 55,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,885,000 after buying an additional 5,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 32,752 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,484,000 after buying an additional 5,427 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $5,147,630.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,771,510. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $202.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $358.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.57 and a 52 week high of $244.81. The firm's fifty day moving average is $212.22 and its 200 day moving average is $220.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 911.57%. The company's revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 340.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AbbVie from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $252.90.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie's product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women's health.

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