GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 147.0% in the first quarter, raising its holdings to $639,000.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their positions in AbbVie, with significant increases including a 197.6% boost from Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH in the fourth quarter.
• AbbVie’s recent earnings report showed a missed EPS estimate of $2.97 versus the expected $3.24, despite having a revenue of $15.42 billion, surpassing analyst expectations.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 147.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,048 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth $1,819,154,000. 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 worth $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in AbbVie by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company's stock worth $1,735,969,000 after buying an additional 2,102,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock worth $2,142,832,000 after buying an additional 1,882,780 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ABBV stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $212.58. 1,619,862 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,520,147. The company has a market cap of $375.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $196.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.91. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.81 and a 12 month high of $218.66. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (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 previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

About AbbVie

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.