AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Acquired by Groupe la Francaise

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 14.1% in the first quarter, now holding 18,910 shares valued at approximately $3.83 million.
• Insider transactions recently occurred with EVP Nicholas Donoghoe and Azita Saleki-Gerhardt selling 13,295 and 42,370 shares, respectively, reducing their holdings significantly.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for AbbVie, with Raymond James setting a new target of $236.00 and describing the stock as an "outperform."

Groupe la Francaise raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,910 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,344 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company's stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. High Falls Advisors Inc increased its holdings in AbbVie by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 1,863 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 8,512 shares of the company's stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $1.71 during trading on Thursday, hitting $206.36. 1,090,770 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,571,867. The firm has a market capitalization of $364.54 billion, a PE ratio of 98.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.29. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

AbbVie Company 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.