Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 5.9% during the second quarter, holding 142,340 shares valued at approximately $26.42 million.
• Several analysts have positively updated their ratings and target prices for AbbVie, with BMO Capital Markets raising the target to $240 and Berenberg Bank increasing it to $270.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 2.8%, with the ex-dividend date on October 15th.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 142,340 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $26,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 480.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 209 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Berenberg Bank upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.38.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $231.03 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $214.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.13 billion, a PE ratio of 110.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. 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 issued its 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). 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 earned $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie 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.

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