Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $6.15 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,152 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,874 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,800,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. HSBC set a $225.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.52.

AbbVie Stock Down 3.0%

AbbVie stock opened at $236.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $209.90 and its 200 day moving average is $195.87. The company has a market capitalization of $418.63 billion, a PE ratio of 112.85, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie 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.