Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Purchases 29,697 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,059,389 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,697 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.7% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.12% of AbbVie worth $365,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.41.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $185.58 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $194.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.26. The stock has a market cap of $328.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.32, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

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.