Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 25.2%, selling 1,342 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 3,974 shares valued at ~$833,000.
• AbbVie recently reported earnings of $2.97 per share, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $3.24, despite a 6.6% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share with a yield of 3.3%, which will be paid out on August 15th to shareholders recorded by July 15th.

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,974 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,342 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company's stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 1.9% during the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company's stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Wealth Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 3.4% during the first quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $231.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $201.36. 3,557,515 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,738,988. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.89, a PEG ratio of 1.28 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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, 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 value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About AbbVie

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.