AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 4.3% during the second quarter, selling 14,439 shares, which now accounts for 0.8% of its investment portfolio.
• AbbVie has received several recent analysts' ratings updates, with price targets ranging from $214.00 to $260.00, indicating strong interest from brokerage firms.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, which will be paid on November 14th, representing an annualized yield of 2.8%.

Vest Financial LLC cut its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 322,220 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,439 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 0.8% of Vest Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $59,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after purchasing an additional 845,787 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after acquiring an additional 189,294 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,675,959,000 after acquiring an additional 713,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,413,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,972,050,000 after acquiring an additional 45,871 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 price objective on AbbVie and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.90.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $230.88 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $407.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.71. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABBV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.