Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,985 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during 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 period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.9 %

ABBV opened at $193.40 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $342.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $196.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.20.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.