Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $774,000 Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 137.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,512 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,613 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 4,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.4% in the second quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 7,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $193.52 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $183.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.61. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.85 and a twelve month high of $199.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.73 billion, a PE ratio of 57.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.