Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Acquires 2,269 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in AbbVie by 16.2%, acquiring an additional 2,269 shares, bringing its total shares to 16,272 valued at approximately $3.4 million.
• Institutional investors own about 70.23% of AbbVie, reflecting significant confidence in the company's prospects, with some firms significantly increasing their stakes in the past quarters.
• AbbVie recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, yielding 3.2%, with a high payout ratio of 312.38%.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,272 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,269 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crestline Management LP grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after acquiring an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock worth $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares during the period. AXA S.A. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 14.8% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president 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 accessible 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 value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $204.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $190.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.86. The company has a market capitalization of $361.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released 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). The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

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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