Amundi Sells 1,688,972 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 20.2% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 6.66 million shares valued at about $1.34 billion.
• Multiple institutional investors have altered their positions in AbbVie, with TD Capital Management increasing its stake by 82.9%, while others have initiated new positions or raised existing stakes.
• AbbVie reported a quarterly EPS of $2.97, falling short of analyst estimates, yet its revenue increased by 6.6% year-over-year to $15.42 billion.

Amundi lowered its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 20.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,658,324 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,688,972 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.38% of AbbVie worth $1,342,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.4% during the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,798,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $376,871,000 after buying an additional 69,368 shares during the period. Promethium Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Promethium Advisors LLC now owns 17,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,736,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in AbbVie by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 165,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,684,000 after buying an additional 15,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $212.34. 4,465,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,155,747. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66. The company's 50 day moving average is $197.74 and its 200 day moving average is $194.15. 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 market capitalization of $375.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.53.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

About AbbVie

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.