Axa S.A. Trims Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Axa S.A. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,043,817 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,943 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A. owned approximately 0.06% of AbbVie worth $179,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position 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 valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 207,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,167,000 after buying an additional 33,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other AbbVie news, 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $193.60 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $190.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.96. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.85 and a fifty-two week high of $199.95. The firm has a market cap of $341.96 billion, a PE ratio of 57.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

AbbVie 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.