Bessemer Group Inc. Has $197.58 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,111,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 173,905 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $197,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Doliver Advisors LP raised its position in AbbVie by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 5,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $175.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $309.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.93, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $200.79 and its 200 day moving average is $188.90.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, 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. Six equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

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.