AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lowered its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,824 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 2.8% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sava Infond d.o.o. lifted its position in AbbVie by 11.4% in the second quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 11,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank OH lifted its position in AbbVie by 40.3% in the second quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 2,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in AbbVie by 5.6% in the second quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 51,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,521,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 9,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 111 Capital lifted its position in AbbVie by 94.2% in the second quarter. 111 Capital now owns 19,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,630,000 after buying an additional 9,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group set a $251.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. 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, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company’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 in the company, 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. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of ABBV opened at $234.07 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $244.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.49 billion, a PE ratio of 111.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

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.