AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Acquired by VCI Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• VCI Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 18.6% during the second quarter, owning 9,028 shares valued at approximately $1.68 million.
• Analysts have set a new consensus price target for AbbVie at $234.80, with BMO Capital Markets raising their target to $240.00 and Morgan Stanley to $255.00.
• AbbVie has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with an upcoming ex-dividend date of October 15th and a dividend yield of 2.8%.

VCI Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 18.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,028 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.80.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $232.07 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $218.58 and its 200-day moving average is $197.84. The company has a market cap of $409.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.81 and a 12 month high of $244.81.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

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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