Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Buys Shares of 26,086 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,086 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,635,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock worth $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company's stock worth $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,038,898,000 after purchasing an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $187.95 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.34 and a 200 day moving average of $187.23. The stock has a market cap of $332.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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