Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Acquires 2,567 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 3.9%, acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total ownership to 68,263 shares valued at approximately $14.3 million.
• AbbVie recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $6.56 with a yield of 3.2%.
• Despite missing the consensus earnings estimate, AbbVie's revenue for the last quarter was significantly above analyst expectations at $15.42 billion, reflecting a 6.6% year-over-year growth.

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,263 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,878,236,000 after buying an additional 2,299,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in AbbVie by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company's stock worth $1,735,969,000 after buying an additional 2,102,273 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $2.5340 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $208.7240. 3,821,894 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,667,121. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $191.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.56. The company has a market cap of $368.72 billion, a PE ratio of 99.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the 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 owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.