Certuity LLC Buys 2,912 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Certuity LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 24.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,876 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Certuity LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Crestline Management LP increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares during the period. AXA S.A. increased its stake in AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $201.36 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $190.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.89, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. 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 issued 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 business had revenue of $15.42 billion for 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 revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie 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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