Rational Advisors LLC Takes Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $562,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the third 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 increased its position in AbbVie by 3.9% during 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the 3rd 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, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $193.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.03. The company has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 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 issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five research 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

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.