Ally Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 20,000 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ally Financial Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,554,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated a “hold” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $171.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $199.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.16. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.