1248 Management LLC Has $963,000 Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• 1248 Management LLC reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 32.6% in the first quarter, now owning 4,597 shares worth approximately $963,000.
• Several major firms, including Goldman Sachs and GAMMA Investing LLC, have increased their stakes in AbbVie, with GAMMA's increase being a remarkable 25,841.6%.
• The stock has an average price target of $214.95 with a current rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, following recently declared earnings of $2.97 EPS that missed expectations.

1248 Management LLC cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 32.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,597 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,226 shares during the period. 1248 Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crestline Management LP lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.9% during the first quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company's stock worth $1,727,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company's stock worth $33,800,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business's 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2%

ABBV stock traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $211.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,973,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,208,400. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $196.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $373.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

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). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's 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.