AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is SP Asset Management’s 6th Largest Position

SP Asset Management raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,348 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 3.0% of SP Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. SP Asset Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $28,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castle Financial & Retirement Planning Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 311.3% in the 4th quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 4,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. 67.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Atlantic Securities reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $178.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AbbVie from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on AbbVie from $154.00 to $146.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AbbVie from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, May 2nd. Finally, SVB Leerink began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Monday, May 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Michael Severino sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.45, for a total transaction of $15,445,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,492,308.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, EVP Henry O. Gosebruch sold 83,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $13,013,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,623 shares in the company, valued at $2,576,565. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Michael Severino sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.45, for a total transaction of $15,445,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,492,308.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 363,761 shares of company stock valued at $55,528,771 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,371,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,052,852. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.89. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.56 and a 12 month high of $175.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.70.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 29th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 22.03% and a return on equity of 157.31%. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 15th will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 14th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.89%.

AbbVie Profile

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AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals in the worldwide. The company offers HUMIRA, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases; SKYRIZI to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults; RINVOQ, a JAK inhibitor for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients; IMBRUVICA to treat adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), and VENCLEXTA, a BCL-2 inhibitor used to treat adults with CLL or SLL; and MAVYRET to treat patients with chronic HCV genotype 1-6 infection.