VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases New Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 196,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,551,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Capital Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $229.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $405.71 billion, a PE ratio of 109.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.51. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $244.81. The company’s 50 day moving average is $217.91 and its 200 day moving average is $197.55. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $251.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.05.

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.