Martingale Asset Management L P Decreases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 15.8%, now owning 126,506 shares worth approximately $26.5 million.
• In the same period, other institutional investors, including Crestline Management LP and Narus Financial Partners LLC, made significant increases to their holdings in AbbVie.
• AbbVie declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, translating to an annualized payout of $6.56 with a yield of 3.1%.

Martingale Asset Management L P cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 15.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,506 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,727 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in AbbVie were worth $26,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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 acquiring an additional 28,753 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 25.3% in the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its stake in AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock worth $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock worth $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,727,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade 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 Stock Up 1.2%

AbbVie stock opened at $208.7240 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $368.72 billion, a PE ratio of 99.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $192.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.68. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

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.

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