Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys 4,195 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,634 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,195 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 1.0% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $10,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $194.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.63, a PEG 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. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $135.85 and a one year high of $199.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.83 and a 200 day moving average of $175.24.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. AbbVie’s payout ratio 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.