AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Position Cut by Boston Research & Management Inc.

Boston Research & Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,413 shares of the company’s stock after selling 624 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 2.3% of Boston Research & Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,677,000 after buying an additional 9,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $193.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $341.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $135.85 and a one year high of $199.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $189.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.82. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s payout ratio 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.