Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,013 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $193.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.70 billion, a PE ratio of 57.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $187.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.46. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

About AbbVie

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.