QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 300,750 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,145 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $55,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after purchasing an additional 845,787 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after acquiring an additional 189,294 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,675,959,000 after acquiring an additional 713,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,413,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,972,050,000 after acquiring an additional 45,871 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.1%

ABBV opened at $234.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $210.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.01. The company has a market cap of $413.49 billion, a PE ratio of 111.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.51. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $244.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results 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). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 312.38%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. UBS Group set a $251.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.22.

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.