Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 17.1%, acquiring 26,989 shares to hold a total of 185,049 shares valued at approximately $38.77 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for AbbVie, with Morgan Stanley setting it at $255.00 and Guggenheim at $227.00, contributing to its average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, highlighting a dividend yield of 3.3%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,049 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,989 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $38,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AbbVie stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $198.10. 4,101,321 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,210,216. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $349.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released 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). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.43.

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.