Ramirez Asset Management Inc. Acquires 8,100 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,027 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares during the quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 82.9% during the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 480.6% during the second quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. UBS Group set a $251.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.38.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $231.03 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $214.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.58. The stock has a market cap of $408.13 billion, a PE ratio of 110.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

AbbVie Profile

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.