AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Bought by Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC has increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 30.1% during the second quarter, now holding 13,161 shares valued at approximately $2.44 million.
• Several institutional investors have made significant purchases in AbbVie, with total institutional ownership now at 70.23%, indicating strong support from the investment community.
• AbbVie recently reported $2.97 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing expectations, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.64, highlighting their commitment to return capital to shareholders.

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 30.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,161 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after purchasing an additional 845,787 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after purchasing an additional 189,294 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 31.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 5.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,675,959,000 after purchasing an additional 713,148 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $2,142,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $218.40. The stock had a trading volume of 4,418,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,347,311. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $221.76. The company has a market capitalization of $385.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.00, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $200.25 and a 200 day moving average of $194.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

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.