Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,360 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $10,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after acquiring an additional 9,978,415 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in AbbVie by 249.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,310 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in AbbVie by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 156.0% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,619,000 after buying an additional 2,116,997 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $367,372,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.1 %

AbbVie stock opened at $193.47 on Monday. 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 cap of $341.64 billion, a PE ratio of 57.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $189.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.76. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $135.85 and a one year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

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.