Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 46,069 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 54.1%, selling 46,069 shares and maintaining 39,026 shares worth approximately $8.17 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in AbbVie, with Capital Research Global Investors boosting their stake by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, owning 33.98 million shares valued at over $6 billion.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, yielding approximately 3.46%, with the dividend payout ratio currently at a high 279.15%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 54.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,026 shares of the company's stock after selling 46,069 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock traded up $6.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $195.17. 8,081,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,440,562. The company has a market cap of $344.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $188.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.04.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 518.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABBV. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.81.

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.