New York Life Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 242,317 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $55,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in AbbVie by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 160.4% during the fourth quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $210.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $210.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.17. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.57 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 340.89%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares in the company, valued at $8,771,510. The trade was a 36.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Berenberg Bank set a $275.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $232.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.10.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.