AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 20,049 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• AEGON Asset Management UK cut its AbbVie stake by 3.8% in Q4, selling 20,049 shares and now holding 503,423 shares worth about $115.03 million, roughly 1.4% of its portfolio and the firm's 15th largest position.
• The U.S. FDA issued a Complete Response Letter for AbbVie's trenibotulinumtoxinE citing manufacturing/process issues, delaying potential commercialization and adding near‑term regulatory uncertainty.
• AbbVie declared a quarterly dividend of $1.73 (annualized $6.92) for a ~3.5% yield, but the payout ratio is very high at about 293%, raising questions about sustainability.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 503,423 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,049 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.4% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in AbbVie were worth $115,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. WestEnd Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,771,510. The trade was a 36.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE ABBV opened at $198.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $351.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.20, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $216.68 and a 200-day moving average of $222.33. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.57 and a 1-year high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $16.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.39 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.91% and a negative return on equity of 1,579.75%. The company's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. AbbVie has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.370-14.570 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.970-3.010 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 293.22%.

AbbVie News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie announced a major strategic investment: a $1.4 billion, AI-enabled manufacturing campus in Durham, NC that will create hundreds of permanent jobs and supports capacity for immunology, neuroscience and oncology medicines. This strengthens manufacturing footprint and long-term growth/production capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord initiated coverage with a Buy and $262 price target (recent coverage highlighted AbbVie as a buy on pullback), providing bullish analyst support and upside from current levels. Analyst upgrades can buoy sentiment and attract inflows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie struck an exclusive licensing deal with Haisco for development of pain medicines, expanding its pipeline and potential addressable market for pain therapeutics. Partnership deals can add optionality to future revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street previews and model-level estimates for Q1 (sales and key metric breakdowns) are circulating ahead of AbbVie’s April 29 earnings; these projections set expectations traders will use for the report. Meeting or beating estimates could stabilize the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to discuss AbbVie as a dividend-growth candidate and a long-term defensive healthcare holding; this maintains baseline investor interest but is unlikely to move shares sharply near-term. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. FDA issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) for AbbVie’s trenibotulinumtoxinE (TrenibotE) — citing manufacturing/process issues rather than new clinical trials. AbbVie said it will respond and believes it can address comments, but the CRL delays potential commercialization and near-term revenue expectations for the neurotoxin program. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets report the CRL is tied to manufacturing concerns; while AbbVie noted no additional clinical studies were requested, regulatory manufacturing issues create uncertainty on timing and cost to obtain approval — a near-term headwind for sentiment. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $242.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank set a $275.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.19.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie's product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women's health.

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