Forefront Analytics LLC Buys Shares of 6,872 AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Forefront Analytics LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 6,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dohj LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 27,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,033,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1%

ABBV opened at $230.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.79. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $244.81. The company has a market capitalization of $407.86 billion, a PE ratio of 109.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 target price on shares of AbbVie and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.90.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the 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 owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $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. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.