Biondo Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Biondo Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,064 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 2.3% of Biondo Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 249,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,320,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 18,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 941.6% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 11,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 10,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leslie Global Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 3,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $210.2840 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. The company has a market capitalization of $371.48 billion, a PE ratio of 100.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.95. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

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.