Caxton Associates LLP Invests $1.35 Million in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,347,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,439,271,000 after purchasing an additional 845,787 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after buying an additional 189,294 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $210.46 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market cap of $371.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $198.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.25.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% 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.