North Star Asset Management Inc. Acquires 3,190 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 157,215 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,190 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.3% of North Star Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $26,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $193.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.42, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $199.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $183.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

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.