AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 29.6%, selling 6,285 shares and leaving it with 14,954 shares valued at approximately $3.13 million.
• AbbVie reported quarterly earnings of $2.97 EPS, which fell short of analysts' expectations, but revenue increased by 6.6% year-over-year, reaching $15.42 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.3% and a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 29.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,954 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,285 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock worth $36,439,271,000 after purchasing an additional 845,787 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in AbbVie by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company's stock worth $6,038,898,000 after buying an additional 778,126 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,878,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,299,645 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,410,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,915,990,000 after acquiring an additional 959,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $3.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $204.78. The company had a trading volume of 4,633,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,725,126. The business has a 50 day moving average of $190.39 and a 200-day moving average of $191.67. The company has a market cap of $361.75 billion, a PE ratio of 97.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 shares were 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 owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.25% 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.