Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 45,074 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co cut its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 67.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,947 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,074 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,502,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 84,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,972,000 after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $193.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.70 billion, a PE ratio of 57.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.85 and a 52 week high of $199.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.