Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Boosts Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 173,084 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,405 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 2.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $32,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% in the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% in the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the first quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,800,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $234.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.49 billion, a PE ratio of 111.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $210.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.01. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.81 and a 12 month high of $244.81.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. HSBC set a $225.00 target price on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued 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 $228.22.

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.