1,307 Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Purchased by Plan Group Financial LLC

Key Points

• Plan Group Financial LLC acquired 1,307 shares of AbbVie Inc., valued at approximately $274,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets on AbbVie, with Bank of America setting a target of $204.00 and Citigroup at $205.00, while maintaining a "hold" rating.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, with an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Plan Group Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,307 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Crestline Management LP lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock worth $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock worth $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.3%

AbbVie stock traded up $2.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $198.77. The company had a trading volume of 4,683,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,278,528. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.65, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $189.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.69.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their target price on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.43.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.