Albion Financial Group UT Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,726 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 25.3% in the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 6.3% in the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 3.9% in the first quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,800,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $220.75 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $225.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $206.24 and a 200 day moving average of $195.04. The company has a market capitalization of $389.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.12, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% 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.