Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 4,542 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC sold 4,542 shares of AbbVie Inc., reducing its stake by 8.9%, now holding 46,616 shares worth approximately $8.65 million.
• Major analysts have varied ratings for AbbVie; Wells Fargo increased their target price from $240 to $260, while Berenberg upgraded their rating from "hold" to "buy" with a price target of $270.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with a yield of 2.8%, set to be paid on November 14th to shareholders recorded by October 15th.

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,616 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,542 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IRON Financial LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. One Degree Advisors Inc bought a new stake in AbbVie during the second quarter worth $213,000. Bey Douglas LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 27.9% during the second quarter. Bey Douglas LLC now owns 2,079 shares of the company's stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 9.8% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 1,165 shares of the company's stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 15,487 shares of the company's stock worth $2,875,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 target price on AbbVie and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.90.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $230.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.79. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The firm has a market cap of $407.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm 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 was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

AbbVie Company 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.

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