AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Purchased by New England Research & Management Inc.

Key Points

• New England Research & Management Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 7% in the second quarter, resulting in ownership of 20,441 shares valued at approximately $3.79 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for AbbVie show a consensus target price of $218.76, with four analysts giving a Strong Buy rating and sixteen rating it a Buy.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share to be paid on November 14th, representing an annualized dividend of $6.56 and a yield of 3.0%.

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,441 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 1.8% of New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 11.1% in the second quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 11,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 21,424 shares of the company's stock worth $3,977,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 21,043 shares of the company's stock worth $3,906,000 after acquiring an additional 4,117 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.9% during the second quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 19,036 shares of the company's stock worth $3,533,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 6.7% during the second quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,406 shares of the company's stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Bank of America raised their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.76.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

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 transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:ABBV opened at $217.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $384.97 billion, a PE ratio of 103.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $200.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.51. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $221.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

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). 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABBV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.