AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Boosted by Mizuho Bank Ltd.

Mizuho Bank Ltd. raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 340.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 660 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 510 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.0% of Mizuho Bank Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Mizuho Bank Ltd.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,148,000. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 4,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the period. Orion Investment Co grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 6,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. raised its position in AbbVie by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 30,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,376,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in AbbVie by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd now owns 18,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,284,000 after acquiring an additional 6,123 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $186.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $330.06 billion, a PE ratio of 77.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $200.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.