Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 427,347 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 427,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,213,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 worth $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 249.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120,310 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in AbbVie by 6.9% in the first 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 raised its position in AbbVie by 156.0% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $367,372,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $196.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $347.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.47. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $199.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. 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. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.64.

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.