GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 7.5%, acquiring an additional 3,678 shares, bringing its total ownership to 52,526 shares worth approximately $9.75 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their target prices for AbbVie, with Guggenheim and JPMorgan raising their targets to $227.00 and $235.00 respectively, indicating a positive sentiment towards the stock.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, set to be paid on November 14th, representing an annualized payout of $6.56 and a yield of 3.0%.

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,526 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,678 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 0.6% of GAMMA Investing LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 22,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,072,000 after acquiring an additional 3,401 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 72.7% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $122,000. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $425,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $784,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.3%

ABBV stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $223.09. 5,989,926 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,689,837. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $203.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.84. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $225.16. The company has a market cap of $394.09 billion, a PE ratio of 106.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction 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. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.