Toth Financial Advisory Corp Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 7.3%, purchasing an additional 3,076 shares, bringing their total ownership to 45,238 shares valued at approximately $8.4 million.
• AbbVie has recently received numerous upgrades from analysts, including a target price increase from Berenberg Bank from $170 to $270, indicating strong optimism for the stock.
• The company reported a quarterly dividend of $1.64, set for payment on November 14th, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.0% amidst a high payout ratio of 312.38%.

Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,238 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,076 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp's holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in 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 position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth about $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 550.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company's stock worth $804,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,666,521 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth $581,817,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie 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 owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie 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 directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV traded up $0.62 during trading on Monday, reaching $223.09. 5,989,926 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,480,546. The company's 50-day moving average is $203.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.84. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $225.16. The company has a market cap of $394.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

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.