BDF Gestion Buys New Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 60,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,438,000. AbbVie comprises approximately 1.0% of BDF Gestion’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 111.1% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 228 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.71.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $189.93. The company had a trading volume of 3,201,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,580,519. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $193.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $335.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.03.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 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.