Leelyn Smith LLC Grows Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,206 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter valued at $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 82.9% during the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 480.6% during the second quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $228.06 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $244.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $402.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.60, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $220.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.94.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. HSBC set a $225.00 price target on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $227.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.80.

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.