Symmetry Partners LLC Increases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Symmetry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 56.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,863 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after acquiring an additional 778,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim upped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $183.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $185.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.84. The company has a market cap of $324.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.26, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

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.