Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,073,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,733 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 0.7% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $355,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 84,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after purchasing an additional 9,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $193.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.85 and a 52 week high of $199.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $189.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.82.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

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.