Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 95,711 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,178,469 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,711 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 0.6% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.07% of AbbVie worth $209,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in AbbVie by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,687,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,867,000 after buying an additional 1,503,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $202.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.83 and a 200 day moving average of $188.96. 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 company has a market cap of $357.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.50, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.