Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Has $279,000 Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4,400.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.0% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth $513,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 31.8% in the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 2,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 28.7% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 388,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,823,000 after buying an additional 86,638 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.1% during the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC IL grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC IL now owns 127,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,028,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.54. The company had a trading volume of 4,084,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,615,517. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.58. 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 one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.57.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

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.