Swedbank AB Sells 36,844 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Swedbank AB has reduced its stake in AbbVie by 1.9%, selling 36,844 shares during the 1st quarter, leaving it with approximately 1.9 million shares valued at $405.7 million.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their ratings for AbbVie, with many setting price targets above $214, indicating a strong consensus for future growth.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, with a yield of 3.0%, reflecting a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Swedbank AB cut its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,936,104 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,844 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.11% of AbbVie worth $405,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 119,141 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim raised their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded 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. Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 price target on the stock. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Up 4.0%

NYSE ABBV opened at $220.09 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $221.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.48. The stock has a market cap of $388.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.53.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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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