12,825 AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Acquired by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 108,184 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,825 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $28,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,596,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,784,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,232 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 0.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,267,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,590,323,000 after acquiring an additional 106,091 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $2,905,952,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 13.0% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,772,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241,587 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 10,698,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,728,000 after acquiring an additional 247,689 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $8,177,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 74,430 shares in the company, valued at $18,607,500. This represents a 30.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $294.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.20. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $302.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $274.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.18.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $17.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.32 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 450.55% and a net margin of 15.67%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.82 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. This represents a $7.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $310.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $298.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $315.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.46.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.