AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Holdings Increased by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,250 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,698,847,000 after buying an additional 992,496 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,569,000 after buying an additional 1,702,415 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,229,888,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chairman now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AbbVie stock traded down $0.42 on Friday, hitting $189.29. 6,303,909 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,147,175. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.85 and a 12-month high of $193.91. The company has a market cap of $334.26 billion, a PE ratio of 56.17, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 186.82%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.71.

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.