Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $7.12 Million Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Essex Financial Services Inc. reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after buying an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471,806 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 249.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120,310 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 156.0% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,997 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $83,299,645.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $187.85 on Friday. 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 cap of $331.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $199.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $194.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.34.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.39.

About AbbVie

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.