AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 786 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Crestline Management LP increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after buying an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% in the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after buying an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after buying an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial lifted 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. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $198.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.35.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% 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.