Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 41,082 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 79.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 92,927 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,082 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,038,898,000 after acquiring an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $172.78 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $305.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. 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 3.80%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.