VELA Investment Management LLC Buys 1,020 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

VELA Investment Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,097 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $3,229,888,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position 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 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 valued at $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in AbbVie by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,422,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,252,000 after buying an additional 2,390,239 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $192.71 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.85 and a 12-month high of $199.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $183.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.50. The firm has a market cap of $340.30 billion, a PE ratio of 57.18, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

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.