Orca Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Orca Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,864 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 550.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $804,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,666,521 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $581,817,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 147.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $230.88 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.76. 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 cap of $407.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.94, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $244.81.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.90.

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.