BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Purchases 127,638 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 60.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 339,155 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,638 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $58,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the second quarter worth $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $37,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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 stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $193.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $342.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.51, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. 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’s 50-day moving average is $189.87 and its 200 day moving average is $175.86. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

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.