State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 479,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $85,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. State Street Corp raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the third 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after purchasing an additional 373,802 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,119,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,467,000 after buying an additional 38,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $211.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $212.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.04. The company has a market capitalization of $372.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.03, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.