Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 817,389 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,771 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $145,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,178,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,414,000 after purchasing an additional 95,711 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,239,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,144,000. X Square Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 14,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,639,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $205.12 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.85 billion, a PE ratio of 85.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 previous year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.