Sapient Capital LLC Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,494 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,594 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 0.8% of Sapient Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $42,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. TD Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its stake in AbbVie by 197.6% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 119,141 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $220.43.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $216.27 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $221.76. 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 cap of $382.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted 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). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is 312.38%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. 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 the business'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 owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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