Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 1,166 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,664 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 0.5% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $209.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $184.42 and a 200 day moving average of $186.98. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value 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 approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.