Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 3,373,156 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 0.9% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.98% of AbbVie worth $3,064,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,347,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,489,992,000 after purchasing an additional 717,403 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $205.12 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $197.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.91. The firm has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.