Clarius Group LLC Has $4.02 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Clarius Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,659 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,800,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.22.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $234.07 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $244.81. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.90. The company has a market capitalization of $413.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

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.