Samalin Investment Counsel LLC Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 288 shares during the quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 22,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,072,000 after purchasing an additional 3,401 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 72.7% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $306,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 22,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 72.2% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $207.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $366.70 billion, a PE ratio of 98.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $193.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.08.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.