LeConte Wealth Management LLC Takes $292,000 Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• LeConte Wealth Management LLC made a new investment in AbbVie Inc., acquiring 1,396 shares valued at approximately $292,000 in the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have shown optimism for AbbVie, with multiple firms raising their price targets; currently, the stock has a consensus price target of $214.95 and a rating indicating a Moderate Buy.
• AbbVie recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $6.56 and a yield of 3.2%.

LeConte Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its position in AbbVie by 197.6% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 119,141 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 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 owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was 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

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim upped 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.7930 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $208.9830. The company had a trading volume of 3,298,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,666,132. The stock has a market cap of $369.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.56. 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 (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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