Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $154.97 Million Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 872,059 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,957 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 1.3% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $154,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised 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 valued at $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 26,693.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,176,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,109,000 after buying an additional 1,172,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $186,431,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.4 %

ABBV stock opened at $213.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $189.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.73. The stock has a market cap of $377.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.