Capital Market Strategies LLC Decreases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Capital Market Strategies LLC has reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 20.3%, now owning 7,757 shares, valued at approximately $1.44 million.
• Insider trading was noted with EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt selling 42,370 shares for over $8.4 million, representing a 19.29% decrease in her holdings.
• Analysts have mixed perspectives on AbbVie, with Daiwa America upgrading its rating to strong-buy, while Citigroup and others have set price targets between $204.00 and $255.00.

Capital Market Strategies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 20.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,757 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,975 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.0% of Capital Market Strategies LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Capital Market Strategies LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% in the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock worth $9,817,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,727,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company's stock worth $33,800,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $3,879,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued 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 $217.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% 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 Stock Performance

ABBV traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $218.40. 4,418,717 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,347,311. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $200.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $385.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $221.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.