Paloma Partners Management Co Buys Shares of 5,775 AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Paloma Partners Management Co made a new investment of approximately $1.21 million in AbbVie Inc. by purchasing 5,775 shares during the first quarter.
• Several large investors adjusted their holdings in AbbVie, with Ameriflex Group Inc. increasing its stake by 106.3% and now owning 6,304 shares valued at $1.32 million.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with a yield of 3.1% and a significant dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,210,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,735,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,142,832,000 after buying an additional 1,882,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AbbVie stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $211.59. 3,973,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,208,400. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

AbbVie 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.