AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 674,261 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 46.6%, now holding 774,106 shares worth approximately $159.4 million.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, representing an annualized rate of $6.56 and a yield of 3.1%, despite having a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed earnings per share (EPS) of $2.97, missing estimates of $3.24, while revenue reached $15.42 billion, exceeding expectations.

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 46.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 774,106 shares of the company's stock after selling 674,261 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $159,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. TD Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in AbbVie by 197.6% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 119,141 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ABBV. Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $212.34. 4,465,366 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,155,747. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $197.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.13. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $375.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.AbbVie's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 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.