Bruce & Co. Inc. Buys 23,500 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Bruce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,500 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 9.1% of Bruce & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Bruce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $27,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,698,847,000 after acquiring an additional 992,496 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,984,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in AbbVie by 13.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,744,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,956,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $194.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $343.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.63, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.22. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

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.