City Holding Co. Buys 1,666 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• City Holding Co. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 4.1% during the second quarter, owning a total of 42,496 shares valued at approximately $7.9 million.
• AbbVie recently experienced a missed earnings estimate for the quarter, reporting $2.97 EPS compared to the consensus of $3.24, while its revenue increased by 6.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, which will be paid on November 14th, reflecting an annual yield of 3.0%.

City Holding Co. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,496 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,666 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.0% of City Holding Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. City Holding Co.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after buying an additional 845,787 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 31.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,413,033 shares of the company's stock worth $1,972,050,000 after acquiring an additional 45,871 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ABBV. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $220.75 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $225.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $206.24 and a 200 day moving average of $195.16. The company has a market capitalization of $389.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.53. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given 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 3.0%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business'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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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