AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 17.0%, now owning 2,678,269 shares valued at approximately $561.15 million.
• AbbVie reported earnings of $2.97 per share for the last quarter, which missed the consensus estimate by ($0.27), although revenue was up 6.6% year-on-year at $15.42 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $6.56 and a yield of 3.2%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 17.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,678,269 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 388,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.15% of AbbVie worth $561,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crestline Management LP boosted its stake in AbbVie by 438.4% during the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st 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 period. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock worth $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company's stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $207.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $194.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.41. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The company has a market capitalization of $367.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for 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 was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 312.38%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

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.

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