Guggenheim Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 4.5% during the first quarter, now owning 244,507 shares valued at approximately $51.2 million.
• Recent insider transactions saw EVP Nicholas Donoghoe and EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sell a combined total of over 55,000 shares of AbbVie stock, indicating significant insider selling activity.
• AbbVie recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.1%, although it has a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Guggenheim Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,507 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,571 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $51,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.9% in the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.4% in the first quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.2% in the first quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 1,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the first quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 8,512 shares of the company's stock worth $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction 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. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1%

ABBV stock traded up $2.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $210.25. 4,259,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,579,126. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $195.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.54. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

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.