Hartford Financial Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Hartford Financial Management Inc. reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 99.2% during the second quarter, now owning only 191 shares after selling 25,000 shares.
• The price target for AbbVie has been raised by several brokerages, with BMO Capital Markets now setting it at $240.00 and Cantor Fitzgerald at $250.00.
• AbbVie will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.64 on November 14th, with a current dividend yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio of 312.38%.

Hartford Financial Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 99.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 191 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 480.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 209 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $228.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $402.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.60, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $244.81. The firm's 50-day moving average is $220.69 and its 200 day moving average is $199.11.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm 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. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 price objective on AbbVie and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.80.

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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