Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,920 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,090 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $52,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after acquiring an additional 845,787 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after purchasing an additional 189,294 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% in 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,675,959,000 after purchasing an additional 713,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the first 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. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s 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. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $220.16 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $221.76. The company has a market cap of $388.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.53.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Bank of America upped their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.68.

AbbVie Company 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.