JLB & Associates Inc. Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• JLB & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 3.3% during the second quarter, now holding 42,353 shares valued at approximately $7.86 million.
• Despite missing earnings estimates with EPS of $2.97, AbbVie reported revenues of $15.42 billion for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, which will be paid on November 14th, yielding an annual payout ratio of 312.38%.

JLB & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,353 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,454 shares during the quarter. JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 550.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company's stock worth $804,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,666,521 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $581,817,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 147.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $576,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,091 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $222.93 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $225.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $207.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, 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 0.08% of the company's stock.

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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