Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Decreases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board decreased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 24.4%, selling 2,090 shares during the 1st quarter, leaving them with 6,468 shares worth $1,355,000.
• In contrast, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings by an extraordinary 25,841.6% in the same period, now owning over 10 million shares valued at approximately $2.14 billion.
• AbbVie recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $2.97, falling short of analysts' expectations, although revenue rose to $15.42 billion, above the consensus estimate.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 24.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,468 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,090 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after acquiring an additional 845,787 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% in the 4th 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 lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,236,000 after buying an additional 2,299,645 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,410,277 shares of the company's stock worth $2,915,990,000 after acquiring an additional 959,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $198.10. 4,101,321 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,210,216. The stock's 50 day moving average is $189.65 and its 200-day moving average is $191.06. The company has a market cap of $349.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.64 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released 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). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price target on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.43.

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.