Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 222.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,104 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,661 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,480,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 13.0% during the third quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 21.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,709,000 after acquiring an additional 6,139 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $164.24 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $175.79 and a 200 day moving average of $159.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.81 billion, a PE ratio of 60.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.11%.

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.