J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Buys 149,378 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 110.3% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 149,378 shares, bringing their total holdings to 284,751 shares valued at approximately $52.83 million.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with the dividend yield at 2.7%, and the payment will begin on November 14th for shareholders recorded by October 15th.
• Research analysts have raised price targets for AbbVie, with Wells Fargo increasing its target to $260 and JPMorgan to $235, reflecting positive sentiment as the company experiences a significant revenue increase year-over-year.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 110.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 284,751 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 149,378 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in AbbVie were worth $52,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock worth $36,439,271,000 after buying an additional 845,787 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company's stock worth $4,612,357,000 after acquiring an additional 189,294 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $2,675,959,000 after purchasing an additional 713,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in AbbVie by 0.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $244.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.71. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $244.81. The company has a market capitalization of $432.40 billion, a PE ratio of 116.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. 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 is 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction 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 approximately $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 currently owned by company insiders.

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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