Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Invests $383,000 in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $197.55. 4,720,300 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,492,238. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $178.93 and a 200 day moving average of $173.15. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $197.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $348.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 186.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. HSBC upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s 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 owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie 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 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. 0.25% of the stock is owned by 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.