AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,216 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 89,097.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,719,514,000 after buying an additional 29,170,366 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $3,033,348,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 138.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,536,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,432,297,000 after purchasing an additional 12,515,744 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 31,571,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,102,311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,785,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 426.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,652,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768,579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 18,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.15, for a total value of $2,759,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 625,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,262,600.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $153.64 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $146.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.33, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.89. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $168.11.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.52 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 151.29%. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 13th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 12th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 121.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Jaffray Companies raised their price target on AbbVie from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on AbbVie from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of AbbVie from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, August 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.79.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune, intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq, a JAK inhibitor to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, and ulcerative colitis; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat hematological malignancies.