Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,274 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,959 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $25,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:ABBV opened at $206.65 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $191.08 and a 200 day moving average of $192.31. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $365.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.41, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.95.

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.