Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,884 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,268 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,691,732,000 after acquiring an additional 511,470 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $196.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $347.00 billion, a PE ratio of 81.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.06.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.34%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.