AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Position Raised by Waddell & Associates LLC

Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,955 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. HSBC upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $193.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,312,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,427,167. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $183.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.60. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.