B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 49,266 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 11.3%, acquiring an additional 49,266 shares, raising their total ownership to 484,797 shares valued at approximately $101.57 million.
• Institutional investors now own 70.23% of AbbVie's stock, with several firms like Crestline Management LP and AXA S.A. also significantly increasing their positions in the company.
• AbbVie recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 484,797 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 49,266 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.0% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in AbbVie were worth $101,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,735,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,102,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,142,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction 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 approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $207.91. The stock had a trading volume of 4,522,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,901,364. The business's 50 day moving average is $194.55 and its 200 day moving average is $193.41. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $367.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.00, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Five equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.