AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Stock Position Lowered by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lowered its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,006 shares of the company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.1%

ABBV stock opened at $234.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $210.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.01. The company has a market cap of $413.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.46, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.51. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. HSBC set a $225.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.22.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.