Fisher Funds Management LTD Invests $26.60 Million in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 150,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,602,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $202.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The company has a market capitalization of $356.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.18, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $181.25 and a 200-day moving average of $186.42.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.