Lee Financial Co Trims Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Lee Financial Co cut its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,554 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises approximately 0.4% of Lee Financial Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after buying an additional 845,787 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after acquiring an additional 189,294 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 31.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,142,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $206.65 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.31. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company has a market capitalization of $365.06 billion, a PE ratio of 98.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.95.

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.