Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY Boosts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY raised its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,725 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,878,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299,645 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in AbbVie by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,735,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102,273 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $206.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $365.06 billion, a PE ratio of 98.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.50. 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 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.08.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.