AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Bought by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Key Points

• Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in AbbVie by 18.8%, owning 129,570 shares valued at approximately $24 million.
• Several analysts raised their target prices for AbbVie, with BMO Capital Markets and Berenberg Bank increasing their targets to $240 and $270 respectively, reflecting a bullish market outlook.
• AbbVie declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, indicating a 3.0% yield, set to be paid on November 14th.

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 18.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,570 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,500 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.1% of Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in AbbVie were worth $24,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth about $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth about $581,817,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 147.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company's stock worth $576,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $224.24. 2,391,736 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,459,258. The firm has a market cap of $396.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $225.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $203.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.78.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm'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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

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.