AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Position Raised by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 2.2%, making it the firm's 4th largest position with a total holding valued at approximately $121.5 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Goldman Sachs, significantly increased their stakes in AbbVie during the first quarter, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.
• AbbVie reported quarterly earnings of $2.97 EPS, which was below the consensus estimate, but its revenue of $15.42 billion exceeded expectations, marking a 6.6% year-over-year increase.

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 579,779 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,221 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.9% of Advisors Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $121,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock worth $2,142,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 147.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company's stock worth $576,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV traded down $1.82 on Friday, reaching $218.40. 4,418,717 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,347,903. The stock has a market cap of $385.82 billion, a PE ratio of 104.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $221.76. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $200.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.52. 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 (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The business 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's 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.