Clarity Financial LLC Buys 20,704 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Clarity Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,483 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,704 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises 4.0% of Clarity Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Clarity Financial LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $37,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 25.3% in the 1st 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. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 6.3% in the 1st 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. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,727,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,800,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $244.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $432.40 billion, a PE ratio of 116.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.71. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81.

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 during 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

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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