Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Decreases Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI has reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 1.9%, selling 2,154 shares and now owning 110,616 shares valued at approximately $23.18 million.
• Institutional ownership in AbbVie stands at 70.23%, with several significant investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC, demonstrating substantial increases in their stakes.
• AbbVie reported a net margin of 6.45% and $15.42 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion despite missing earnings per share estimates.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,616 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,154 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in AbbVie were worth $23,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EnRich Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 119,141 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $198.10. 4,101,321 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,210,216. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.96 billion, a PE ratio of 94.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.43.

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.