AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 1.8%, now owning approximately 6.58 million shares, valued at around $1.38 billion.
• Insiders at AbbVie, including EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, recently sold significant shares, indicating a 19.29% decrease in their ownership following transactions totaling over $11 million.
• AbbVie reported a quarterly EPS of $2.97, missing estimates, while revenue increased 6.6% year-over-year to $15.42 billion, leading analysts to set price targets ranging from $205 to $227.

Raymond James Financial Inc. cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,584,168 shares of the company's stock after selling 117,866 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 0.5% of Raymond James Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.37% of AbbVie worth $1,379,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Crestline Management LP increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock worth $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock worth $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock worth $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $206.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.08. The stock has a market cap of $365.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.41, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.50. 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 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 company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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