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

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,059,389 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,697 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 0.7% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $365,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,064,773,000 after buying an additional 3,373,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $328.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.26.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.41.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.