CCM Investment Advisers LLC Purchases 3,902 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 5.0%, acquiring an additional 3,902 shares, which brought their total to 81,423 shares, valued at approximately $15.1 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that two executive vice presidents sold shares in August, decreasing their ownership stake, with Azita Saleki-Gerhardt selling 42,370 shares for over $8.4 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for AbbVie, ranging from $204.00 to $260.00, reflecting a strong outlook with several upgrades in ratings over recent months.

CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,423 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,902 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 1.6% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. CCM Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $15,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after purchasing an additional 845,787 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company's stock worth $4,612,357,000 after buying an additional 189,294 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 31.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 5.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,675,959,000 after acquiring an additional 713,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $222.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.04. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $225.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.74 billion, a PE ratio of 106.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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