Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. significantly increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 550.9% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 3,666,521 shares, bringing its total to over 4.3 million shares.
• Recent earnings reports indicated that AbbVie missed analysts’ EPS expectations, reporting $2.97 versus a consensus of $3.24, but showed a revenue increase of 6.6% year-over-year.
• AbbVie also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, reflecting an annualized payout of $6.56 and a yield of 3.0%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 550.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,332,054 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,666,521 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.2% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.25% of AbbVie worth $804,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. TD Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, 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. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:ABBV traded up $0.86 on Tuesday, reaching $223.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 855,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,449,535. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $225.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $394.73 billion, a PE ratio of 106.43, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53. The business's 50-day moving average price is $203.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.84.

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 analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Berenberg Bank upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.45.

AbbVie 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.