Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 27,890 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 42.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,218 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 27,890 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $19,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $330,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 38,888 shares of the company's stock worth $8,148,000 after buying an additional 17,788 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,345,296 shares of the company's stock worth $1,320,617,000 after buying an additional 657,824 shares during the period. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 26,137 shares of the company's stock worth $5,476,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 28,900 shares of the company's stock worth $6,055,000 after buying an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $204.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $361.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50-day moving average is $190.74 and its 200 day moving average is $191.86.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%. The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

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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