Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,452 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 550.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,116,000 after buying an additional 3,666,521 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $581,817,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 147.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,091 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $234.07 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $210.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.79. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

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.