ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 156,611 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its AbbVie stake by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 156,611 shares and leaving it with 1,032,974 shares worth about $236 million.
• AbbVie reported strong quarterly results, posting $2.65 EPS and $15 billion in revenue, both ahead of estimates, with revenue rising 12.4% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.73 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 3.3%, while analysts broadly remain positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,032,974 shares of the company's stock after selling 156,611 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of AbbVie worth $236,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in AbbVie by 457.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company's stock worth $2,439,714,000 after acquiring an additional 8,646,424 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company's stock worth $41,306,353,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032,438 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 41.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 9,337,480 shares of the company's stock worth $1,733,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753,312 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 31.8% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,281,327 shares of the company's stock worth $1,685,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.6% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 10,508,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,418,909,000 after buying an additional 1,414,621 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,771,510. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $209.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $209.82 and a 200-day moving average of $219.92. The company has a market cap of $370.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $180.25 and a one year high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 340.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $294.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.43.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie's product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women's health.

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