Korea Investment CORP Sells 34,505 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Korea Investment CORP cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,324,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,505 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 0.6% of Korea Investment CORP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $235,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,436,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $201.16 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The company has a market cap of $355.13 billion, a PE ratio of 83.82, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

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 296.28%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.