Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 318,834 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,895 shares during the quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $54,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $3,229,888,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after buying an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,120,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in AbbVie by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,422,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABBV. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $193.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,312,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,427,167. The company has a market capitalization of $341.52 billion, a PE ratio of 57.42, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.85 and a fifty-two week high of $199.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $183.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The firm 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.