AbbVie Inc. $ABBV is Sepio Capital LP's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Sepio Capital LP increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 36.9%, making it the company's 4th largest holding with a total value of approximately $48 million.
• Other hedge funds, such as GAMMA Investing LLC and Goldman Sachs, have significantly boosted their positions in AbbVie, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, yielding 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 312.38%.

Sepio Capital LP lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 36.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,167 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 61,794 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 3.8% of Sepio Capital LP's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in AbbVie were worth $48,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. TD Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in AbbVie by 197.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.95.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $8.45 on Thursday, reaching $220.09. The company had a trading volume of 7,647,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,197,288. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $199.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $221.77. The firm has a market cap of $388.80 billion, a PE ratio of 104.81, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.53.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

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.