Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,574 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,698,847,000 after buying an additional 992,496 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $3,229,888,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,434 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded down $2.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $194.81. 566,668 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,401,038. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $344.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.