Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 174 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 1.5% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 111.1% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.29.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of ABBV traded up $2.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $196.87. 3,247,956 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,521,394. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.85 and a 52 week high of $197.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $347.65 billion, a PE ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 186.82%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.