Sargent Investment Group LLC Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 939.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,692 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,296 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.6% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the 1st 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 International Investors lifted its position 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 last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,698,847,000 after buying an additional 992,496 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,744,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,956,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,201 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now 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 available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the company’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 owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.8 %

ABBV stock opened at $195.78 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $187.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.09, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.85 and a fifty-two week high of $199.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.