Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 189 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,143 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 2.0% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AXS Investments LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 9,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. West Coast Financial LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 9.7% during the first quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. FCG Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $1,413,000. Safeguard Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $235,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% in the first quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. HSBC upgraded 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie 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 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 the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $193.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $199.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio 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.