Ascent Group LLC Decreases Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Ascent Group LLC lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,360 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adalta Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $192,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 77.2% during the 1st quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,666,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,132,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $1,347,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $212.34 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $375.11 billion, a PE ratio of 101.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.08.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.95.

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.