AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 383,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,335 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 3.8% of Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $80,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,284 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 31.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AbbVie by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,878,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,299,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 2,102,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $206.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.21, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.47.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently 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.