Summit Global Investments Raises Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Summit Global Investments grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,265 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $464,000. Mindset Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Paragon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $1,126,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 19,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $209.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $370.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $194.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.67.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly 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 company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 in the last quarter. 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.