MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Acquires 1,720 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,757 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Goepper Burkhardt LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Founders Capital Management LLC now owns 22,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,417,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $182.10. 5,418,687 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,578,465. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The firm has a market cap of $322.44 billion, a PE ratio of 66.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.13.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim increased their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James increased their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, HSBC downgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

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.