Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 62,957 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 22.7%, lowering its shares from 277,386 to 214,429, which are now valued at approximately $44.93 million.
• Abbie's recent earnings report showed $2.97 earnings per share, missing expectations of $3.24, while revenue reached $15.42 billion, exceeding analyst estimates.
• Analysts are optimistic about AbbVie, with firms like Morgan Stanley and Piper Sandler raising their target prices, indicating a consensus of a "Moderate Buy" rating with an average target of $214.95.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 214,429 shares of the company's stock after selling 62,957 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $44,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crestline Management LP lifted its position in AbbVie by 438.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position 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 last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its position 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 last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company's stock worth $1,727,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $2.33 on Friday, reaching $210.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,236,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,569,403. The firm has a market cap of $371.42 billion, a PE ratio of 100.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $194.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.41. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% 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 link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% 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.

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.