Appleton Partners Inc. MA Purchases 2,010 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its position in AbbVie Inc. by 5.3%, acquiring an additional 2,010 shares, bringing its total to 39,742 shares valued at approximately $7.4 million.
• Insider selling occurred with EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt and EVP Nicholas Donoghoe reducing their stock positions by 19.29% and 18.58% respectively through significant sales of shares.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded AbbVie’s stock rating, with price targets increasing significantly, including a rise from $200.00 to $235.00 by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,742 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. FF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. FF Advisors LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 573 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Seneca House Advisors raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 2,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, 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 company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.22.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $234.07 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.51. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.81 and a 12 month high of $244.81. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $210.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

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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