Cercano Management LLC Grows Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cercano Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5,398.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,372 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 96,583 shares during the quarter. Cercano Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 32.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,064,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $196.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $196.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $346.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

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.