Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Decreases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,073,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,733 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 0.7% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.12% of AbbVie worth $355,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 84,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after purchasing an additional 9,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $193.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $189.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.41, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $135.85 and a one year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.