ARS Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

ARS Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,813 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $721,000. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 18,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,989,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 13,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares in the last quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $6,686,000. Finally, Capital Market Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 12,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. 67.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 18,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.15, for a total transaction of $2,759,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 625,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,262,600.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $153.93 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.33. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.96 and a twelve month high of $168.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $146.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.44. The firm has a market cap of $271.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.12. AbbVie had a return on equity of 151.29% and a net margin of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.52 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 13th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 12th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. TheStreet raised AbbVie from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, August 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. William Blair assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.79.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune, intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq, a JAK inhibitor to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, and ulcerative colitis; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat hematological malignancies.