Optas LLC Buys 1,142 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Optas LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 22.5%, acquiring an additional 1,142 shares, bringing its total holdings to 6,227 shares valued at approximately $1,156,000.
• In related insider transactions, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares, marking a 19.29% decrease in her position, while EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares, representing an 18.58% decline in his ownership.
• AbbVie received recent analyst upgrades from firms such as Daiwa Capital Markets and JPMorgan, with price targets rising up to $240.00 and a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Optas LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 22.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,227 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FF Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 3.6% in the second quarter. FF Advisors LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 7,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 573 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Seneca House Advisors raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 2,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, HSBC set a $225.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $229.14.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $231.26 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $244.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.12, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.43. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 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 business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.8%. AbbVie's 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.

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