Virtu Financial LLC Takes $1.45 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie Inc. worth approximately $1.45 million, purchasing 6,942 shares during the first quarter.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with a current annualized dividend yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 312.38%.
• AbbVie reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.97 for the last quarter, falling short of expectations, but had revenue of $15.42 billion, exceeding analyst forecasts.

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,454,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299,645 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,769,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,735,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102,273 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,142,832,000 after buying an additional 1,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $201.36. The company had a trading volume of 3,557,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,738,764. The stock has a market cap of $355.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.60. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.95.

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.