Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 5,666 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management has increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 3.6%, acquiring an additional 5,666 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 164,792 shares valued at approximately $30.6 million.
• AbbVie recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.97 EPS, missing estimates, but experienced a revenue increase of 6.6% year-over-year, totaling $15.42 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with an annual yield of 3.0%, set to be paid on November 14th to shareholders on record as of October 15th.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,792 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,666 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $30,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in AbbVie by 550.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company's stock worth $804,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,666,521 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $581,817,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Piper Sandler started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $223.09. 5,907,829 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,480,531. The business's fifty day moving average price is $203.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.78. The company has a market cap of $394.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.23, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $225.16.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.