Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 87,370 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,056,448 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,370 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $163,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 459.7% during the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 240.0% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $7.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,721,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $174.59 and a 200-day moving average of $160.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. AbbVie’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

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.