AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 17.6%, owning 9,584 shares valued at approximately $2 million after selling 2,045 shares in the first quarter.
• AbbVie reported $2.97 earnings per share for the latest quarter, missing analysts' estimates of $3.24, despite revenue exceeding expectations at $15.42 billion.
• AbbVie has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, with a yield of 3.1%, although the company's payout ratio is significantly high at 312.38%.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,584 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,045 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ICONIQ Capital LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 32.8% during the first quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the company's stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $7,247,000. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 18.0% during the first quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 15,322 shares of the company's stock worth $3,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank raised its position in AbbVie by 1.0% during the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 102,353 shares of the company's stock worth $21,445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its position in AbbVie by 2.2% during the first quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,807,219 shares of the company's stock worth $350,536,000 after acquiring an additional 38,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $210.2840 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $192.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.96. The company has a market cap of $371.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.14, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

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.

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