AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 94,905 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,688 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 0.6% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $210,000. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.6% during the third quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 4,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 857,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,790,000 after buying an additional 14,500 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,846,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BLB&B Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 78,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ABBV. 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. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays reduced 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. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $908,687.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $2.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $163.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,850,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The company has a market cap of $290.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $173.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

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.