Meeder Asset Management Inc. Sells 170,839 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 93.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,371 shares of the company’s stock after selling 170,839 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,687,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,867,000 after buying an additional 1,503,875 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $205.12 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a market capitalization of $362.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.