AMF Tjanstepension AB Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• AMF Tjanstepension AB sharply reduced its AbbVie stake by 65.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 59,376 shares and leaving it with 30,909 shares worth about $7.1 million.
• AbbVie reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with earnings of $2.65 per share versus $2.59 expected and revenue of $15.0 billion, up 12.4% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.73 per share, equal to $6.92 annually and a 3.3% yield, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy.

AMF Tjanstepension AB cut its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 65.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,909 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,376 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB's holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in AbbVie by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 160.4% during the 4th quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

AbbVie Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $370.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.24, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.32. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $209.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.92. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.25 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 340.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.43.

AbbVie Company 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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