Beck Bode LLC Purchases New Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 43,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,405,000. AbbVie makes up 1.5% of Beck Bode LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted 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 worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,698,847,000 after purchasing an additional 992,496 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,240,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in AbbVie by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,744,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,956,518,000 after buying an additional 1,291,201 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was 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 owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AbbVie 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 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 approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $193.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.92 and a 200-day moving average of $175.46. The company has a market cap of $341.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. 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 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

AbbVie Company 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.