Arkansas Financial Group Inc. Buys 100 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Arkansas Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,695 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 82.9% in the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in AbbVie by 197.6% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 119,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $218.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $205.61 and its 200-day moving average is $195.22. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $225.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market cap of $385.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.53.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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