Legal & General Group Plc Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,239 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.6% of Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.87% of AbbVie worth $2,620,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased 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. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. HSBC upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $191.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.85 and a 12-month high of $199.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $190.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.07.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. On average, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. 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.