AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Lessened by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 3.2%, holding 1,150,682 shares valued at $240.87 million after selling 38,604 shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target to $255 while Wall Street Zen downgraded it to a "buy" rating.
• AbbVie recently announced a $1.64 quarterly dividend, with an annualized yield of 3.3%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,150,682 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,604 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.07% of AbbVie worth $240,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 22,912 shares of the company's stock worth $4,072,000 after buying an additional 3,401 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 72.7% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the company's stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,082,859 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,419,000 after purchasing an additional 25,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $198.46 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $189.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $350.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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