ARS Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,813 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth approximately $721,000. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 18,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,989,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 13,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the last quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $6,686,000. Finally, Capital Market Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 12,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. 67.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $153.93 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.42 and a 200-day moving average of $147.44. The company has a market capitalization of $271.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $168.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.33, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.52 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 151.29%. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.81%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 18,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.15, for a total transaction of $2,759,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 625,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,262,600.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, August 28th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. Piper Jaffray Companies lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $170.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.79.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune, intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq, a JAK inhibitor to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, and ulcerative colitis; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat hematological malignancies.