AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,314 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,012,281 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after buying an additional 1,450,089 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,242,000 after buying an additional 1,433,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 34.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,463,000 after buying an additional 1,130,638 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

ABBV stock opened at $159.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $282.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Barclays upped their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim upped their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About AbbVie

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.