Fluent Financial LLC Purchases 2,570 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Fluent Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,150 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 2.2% of Fluent Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Fluent Financial LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

Insider Activity

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $193.72. The company had a trading volume of 453,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,404,892. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 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 has a market cap of $342.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.33, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $183.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its 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. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s 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.