GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Acquires 102 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,719 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 102 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,229,888,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after buying an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 249.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after buying an additional 3,120,310 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 6.9% during 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 during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,422,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,305,252,000 after buying an additional 2,390,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV traded up $1.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $192.94. 4,153,375 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,552,938. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $340.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64. 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 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $193.91.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. AbbVie had a return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.29.

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.