Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $17.46 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 101,793 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,165 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.6% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Prudential PLC raised its position in AbbVie by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 161,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,672,000 after purchasing an additional 15,051 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.0% in the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 33,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,719,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% in the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 29,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,998,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% in the second quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $193.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $341.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.85 and a fifty-two week high of $199.95.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

AbbVie 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.