Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 189 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,143 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 2.0% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 124.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 181,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,052,000 after purchasing an additional 100,547 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the second quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Promethos Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 119.9% during the second quarter. Promethos Capital LLC now owns 30,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,000 after acquiring an additional 16,510 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in AbbVie by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,868,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,075,000 after purchasing an additional 529,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 278,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,735,000 after purchasing an additional 5,870 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. William Blair raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $193.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $188.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $341.93 billion, a PE ratio of 57.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About AbbVie

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.