AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,626 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,448 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $22,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Private Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% in the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. High Falls Advisors Inc raised its holdings in AbbVie by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 1,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 8,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.2%

ABBV opened at $209.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $198.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.14. The company has a market cap of $370.93 billion, a PE ratio of 99.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.95.

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.