West Bancorporation Inc. Sells 179 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

West Bancorporation Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,292 shares of the company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 0.6% of West Bancorporation Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. West Bancorporation Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,439,271,000 after buying an additional 845,787 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,612,357,000 after buying an additional 189,294 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 31.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 5.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,675,959,000 after buying an additional 713,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,413,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,972,050,000 after purchasing an additional 45,871 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ABBV opened at $230.88 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $214.84 and a 200 day moving average of $196.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81. The firm has a market cap of $407.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Piper Sandler upped their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. HSBC set a $225.00 price objective on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

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

AbbVie 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.