AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Acquired by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in AbbVie by 19,220.8%, acquiring an additional 1,153,249 shares, bringing its total ownership to over 1.1 million shares, worth approximately $242.9 million.
• Sector analysts have raised their price targets for AbbVie, with ratings including "outperform" and "overweight" from firms like Daiwa Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley, indicating bullish sentiment towards the stock.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, yielding about 3.1%, though its dividend payout ratio is notably high at 312.38%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 19,220.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,159,249 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,153,249 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of AbbVie worth $242,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.9% during the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company's stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.4% during the first quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.2% during the first quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 1,863 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 8,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2%

ABBV stock opened at $208.7240 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company has a market cap of $368.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.39, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.68.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents 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 company insiders.

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.

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