AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Purchased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank Inc. has increased its holdings in AbbVie by 14.8% in the second quarter, owning a total of 94,751 shares valued at approximately $17.6 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 70.23% of AbbVie Inc.'s stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms such as GAMMA Investing LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
• AbbVie has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, with a payout ratio of 312.38%, indicating a higher dividend expense relative to its net income.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,751 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,180 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $2,142,832,000 after buying an additional 1,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 147.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $218.40 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $200.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.52. The stock has a market cap of $385.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.00, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $221.76. 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for 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%.AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. 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 report on Thursday, August 7th. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.10.

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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