Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,156 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 480.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 target price on shares of AbbVie and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, October 13th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.80.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE ABBV opened at $232.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $409.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 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’s fifty day moving average price is $218.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.