AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by State of Wyoming

Key Points

• The State of Wyoming reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 82.7% in the first quarter, ending with 1,148 shares worth approximately $241,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in AbbVie, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by 25,841.6%, now holding over 10 million shares valued at more than $2.14 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have shown confidence in AbbVie, with multiple firms issuing upgrades and establishing target prices above $200, reflecting a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

State of Wyoming lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 82.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,148 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,474 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming's holdings in AbbVie were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 31.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in AbbVie by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,735,969,000 after buying an additional 2,102,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,142,832,000 after buying an additional 1,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie 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 value of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This 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.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $211.59 on Thursday. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $196.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.91. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $373.79 billion, a PE ratio of 100.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.53.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS 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 business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 312.38%.

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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