Griffin Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,411 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 1.8% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 7.1% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 191,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,458,000 after buying an additional 12,690 shares in the last quarter. Dohj LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 41.8% during the second quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% in the second quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 27,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,033,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $230.88 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.94, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.71. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Berenberg Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.90.

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.