Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Buys 7,652 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 27.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,101 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,652 shares during the quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after acquiring an additional 9,978,415 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in AbbVie by 6.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,698,847,000 after purchasing an additional 992,496 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,569,000 after buying an additional 1,702,415 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,229,888,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.29.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ABBV traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $193.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,675,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,535,780. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.85 and a 12-month high of $194.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $342.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.54, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 186.82%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio 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.