AbbVie Inc. $ABBV is Advocate Group LLC's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Advocate Group LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 2.7%, making it the firm's 4th largest position, with holdings valued at approximately $15.1 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $6.56 and a yield of 2.8%.
• AbbVie reported earnings of $2.97 per share for the last quarter, missing expectations by $0.27, with revenues of $15.42 billion, surpassing estimates.

Advocate Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,302 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 2.7% of Advocate Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Advocate Group LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $15,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in AbbVie by 550.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company's stock worth $804,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,666,521 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $581,817,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 147.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company's stock worth $576,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,091 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1%

ABBV stock opened at $230.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $407.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $244.81. The company's 50-day moving average price is $214.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). 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 analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. HSBC set a $225.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Three investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.90.

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.

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