Viking Fund Management LLC Sells 13,000 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Viking Fund Management LLC decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. by 14.4%, now owning 77,000 shares valued at approximately $14.29 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their stakes in AbbVie, with TD Capital Management LLC raising its holdings by 82.9% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have generally upgraded their price targets for AbbVie, with Morgan Stanley increasing its price objective to $255 and several others rating the stock as "overweight."

Viking Fund Management LLC reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,000 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 2.0% of Viking Fund Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $223.09. The company had a trading volume of 5,887,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,480,400. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $203.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.78. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $225.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company has a market capitalization of $394.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

AbbVie 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.