AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor LLC

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor increased its AbbVie stake by 3.4% in the third quarter, adding 89,226 shares to hold about 2.68 million shares worth $701.5 million.
• Analysts are broadly positive: AbbVie has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $297.46, with several firms recently raising targets as high as $342.
• AbbVie beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 10.3% year over year, and raised its quarterly dividend from $1.73 to $1.82 per share.

Bahl & Gaynor LLC grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,681,760 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 89,226 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 3.3% of Bahl & Gaynor LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor LLC owned 0.15% of AbbVie worth $701,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,596,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,784,646,000 after buying an additional 1,379,232 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,267,697 shares of the company's stock worth $3,590,323,000 after buying an additional 106,091 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $2,905,952,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in AbbVie by 13.0% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,772,949 shares of the company's stock worth $2,710,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241,587 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in AbbVie by 2.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 10,698,095 shares of the company's stock worth $2,326,728,000 after acquiring an additional 247,689 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABBV. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on AbbVie from $290.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on AbbVie from $309.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. BMO Capital Markets set a $315.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $297.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $8,177,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 74,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,607,500. This trade represents a 30.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ABBV opened at $293.88 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $302.93. The stock's 50 day moving average is $273.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.80. The firm has a market cap of $519.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.58, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.20.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $17.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.32 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 450.55% and a net margin of 15.67%. The business's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.82 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 15th. This represents a $7.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 125.30%.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.

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