SYM FINANCIAL Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,652 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after buying an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,085,000 after buying an additional 914,485 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,269,822,000 after buying an additional 491,391 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,276,000 after buying an additional 352,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,098,436,000 after buying an additional 199,833 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.31.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.79. 5,850,102 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The company has a market cap of $290.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.22. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.