Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 591,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 1.9% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $79,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Goepper Burkhardt LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 7,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 18,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,989,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC now owns 12,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 67.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABBV. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Piper Jaffray Companies increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. William Blair started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.79.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $153.93 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.33. The company has a market capitalization of $271.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $168.11.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.12. The business 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 research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 12th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 121.81%.

About AbbVie

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.