AlphaQuest LLC Buys 10,085 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 941.6% during Q1, acquiring an additional 10,085 shares, resulting in total holdings valued at $2,337,000.
• AbbVie reported $2.97 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, but saw revenue rise to $15.42 billion, exceeding predictions.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, yielding a 3.1% annual return while its dividend payout ratio stands at 312.38%.

AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 941.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,156 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,085 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Leslie Global Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% in the first quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 3,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Strategies Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Allstate Corp raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 16.3% in the first quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 61,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,793,000 after purchasing an additional 8,561 shares during the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% in the first quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 66,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $209.5410 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $192.45 and a 200-day moving average of $192.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $370.17 billion, a PE ratio of 99.78, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company'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 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 represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.

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