AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,834 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,895 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $54,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $193.40. 4,312,632 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,427,167. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $183.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $341.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.42, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 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 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.