Ethic Inc. Has $17.36 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,685 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,120 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

AbbVie stock opened at $185.58 on Friday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $194.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.26. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $328.28 billion, a PE ratio of 77.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $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 dividend yield of 3.53%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently 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.