AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,018,472 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,099 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.5% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $213,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crestline Management LP raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $204.78 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average price is $190.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $361.75 billion, a PE ratio of 97.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results 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). 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

AbbVie 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.