Zullo Investment Group Inc. Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,572 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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 sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $251.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.90.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $230.88 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The company has a market capitalization of $407.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.79.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. 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.