Aberdeen Group plc Buys 71,966 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,322,737 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 71,966 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.7% of Aberdeen Group plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $429,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dohj LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.8% in the second quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% in the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% in the second quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 27,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,033,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% in the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABBV. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.90.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $230.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $214.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.79. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $244.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.94, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. 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 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 net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

About AbbVie

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.