Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 18,541 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,765 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,541 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 1.1% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. TD Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% in the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in AbbVie by 197.6% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 119,141 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Berenberg Bank raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.68.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $222.29 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $223.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.01. The company has a market cap of $392.69 billion, a PE ratio of 105.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.53.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders 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 is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

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.