NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Sells 4,000 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in AbbVie by 2.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,085,000 after purchasing an additional 914,485 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in AbbVie by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,269,822,000 after buying an additional 491,391 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,276,000 after purchasing an additional 352,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,098,436,000 after buying an additional 199,833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV traded down $7.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $159.62. 10,629,031 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,628,665. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.67. The stock has a market cap of $282.63 billion, a PE ratio of 58.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.11. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Barclays raised their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

Insider Activity

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

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.