Headlands Technologies LLC Makes New Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC invested approximately $553,000 in AbbVie Inc. during the first quarter, acquiring 2,638 shares of the company's stock.
• Several institutional investors enhanced their stakes in AbbVie, including Crestline Management, which increased its position by 438.4% to over $6 million.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%.

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crestline Management LP boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% during the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,817,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other 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 transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.51 on Tuesday, hitting $198.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,011,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,745,753. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $189.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.55. The company has a market capitalization of $350.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

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.