AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 364,292.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,514 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 291,434 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 2.6% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $50,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Coast Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.7% in the first quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,413,000. Safeguard Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $235,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the first quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $87,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $193.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $342.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $189.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.86. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

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.