AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Stock Position Decreased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 167,335 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,067 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $43,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,596,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,784,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,232 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $559,736,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,267,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,590,323,000 after purchasing an additional 106,091 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $2,905,952,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.0% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,772,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241,587 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $288.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $310.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on AbbVie from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised AbbVie from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on AbbVie from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $8,177,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 74,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,607,500. This represents a 30.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $293.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.45 and its 200-day moving average is $239.80. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $302.93. The company has a market cap of $519.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.58, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.20.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.09. AbbVie had a net margin of 15.67% and a negative return on equity of 450.55%. The business had revenue of $17.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be issued a $1.82 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 15th. This represents a $7.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 125.30%.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.