Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 285.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,154 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,484 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $194.21 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95. The company has a market cap of $343.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $186.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.22.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 of this dividend 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Company 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.