CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. Purchases Shares of 4,620 AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased 4,620 shares of AbbVie Inc., valued at approximately $968,000, making it the 19th largest position in their portfolio.
• Several hedge funds, including Narus Financial Partners LLC and Highland Capital Management LLC, increased their stakes in AbbVie during the first quarter of the year.
• AbbVie recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64, with a payout ratio of 312.38%, and will be paid to stockholders of record on October 15th.

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $968,000. AbbVie accounts for about 1.2% of CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,401 shares of the company's stock worth $8,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 7,357 shares of the company's stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 56.8% in the 1st quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $383,000. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 209.3% during the first quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 4,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.7%

ABBV stock traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $211.84. The company had a trading volume of 4,520,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,481,872. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market cap of $374.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.88, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $198.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.25. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business 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%. AbbVie's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four equities 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.95.

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.