First Foundation Advisors Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

First Foundation Advisors lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,229,888,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 World Investors grew its holdings in AbbVie by 249.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,357,000 after buying an additional 3,120,310 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in AbbVie by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after acquiring an additional 3,110,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 156.0% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, 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 value of $49,497,875.00. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’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 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 $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $196.37 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.74. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $135.85 and a one year high of $199.95. The company has a market capitalization of $346.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business 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 company 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 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

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.