AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Trimmed by AGF Management Ltd.

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. has reduced its holding in AbbVie Inc. by 24%, now owning 767,432 shares valued at approximately $160.8 million, making it the company's 29th largest holding.
• Despite AGF's reduction, other investors significantly increased their positions in AbbVie, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by 25,841.6% during the same period.
• AbbVie recently reported an EPS of $2.97 for the last quarter, missing analyst estimates, though revenue rose to $15.42 billion, surpassing expectations.

AGF Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 767,432 shares of the company's stock after selling 242,059 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 0.9% of AGF Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $160,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 119,141 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.6%

ABBV stock traded up $3.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $204.78. 4,634,275 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,949,353. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.86. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. 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 company has a market capitalization of $361.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.51, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.