Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 259,051 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 52.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 755,359 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 259,051 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.5% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $134,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Sky Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,523,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $212.21 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $374.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $193.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.48. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.