William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Takes $4.34 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 25,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,336,000. AbbVie makes up 2.8% of William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. 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 research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $194.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.85 and a 52 week high of $199.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $191.54 and its 200 day moving average is $176.22. The firm has a market cap of $343.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 183.98%.

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.