Ascent Group LLC Sells 1,360 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has sold 1,360 shares of AbbVie Inc., reducing its stake by 5.2%, leaving it with 24,576 shares valued at approximately $5.15 million.
• Insider activity included significant sales by EVP Nicholas Donoghoe and EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, decreasing their positions by 18.58% and 19.29%, respectively.
• AbbVie declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share with a yield of 3.1%, set to be paid on November 14th, with a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Ascent Group LLC cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,360 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in AbbVie by 197.6% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 119,141 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3%

AbbVie stock opened at $212.34 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $375.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.11, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $197.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.08.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

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.

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