Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,337 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,040 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 0.9% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $10,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after purchasing an additional 511,470 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after buying an additional 373,802 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471,806 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $193.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $178.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company 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.