Sit Investment Associates Inc. Purchases 7,771 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,228 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,771 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 953,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,506,000 after acquiring an additional 18,294 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. increased its position in AbbVie by 340.0% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,148,000. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 4,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Investment Co boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 6,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $186.58 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.06 billion, a PE ratio of 77.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.24.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Company 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.