WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 1,045 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,636 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises 2.3% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 119,141 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $222.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $203.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.01. The company has a market capitalization of $392.69 billion, a PE ratio of 105.85, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $223.49.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.