AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Stock: King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Position

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 754,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,889 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $197,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,596,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,784,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,232 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,267,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,590,323,000 after purchasing an additional 106,091 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,905,952,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.0% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,772,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241,587 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 10,698,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,728,000 after purchasing an additional 247,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $294.93 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.75 and a fifty-two week high of $302.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.18. The stock has a market cap of $521.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.20.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.09. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 450.55% and a net margin of 15.67%. The firm had revenue of $17.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 15th will be paid a $1.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. This represents a $7.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 119.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $8,177,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 74,430 shares in the company, valued at $18,607,500. The trade was a 30.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $284.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.46.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.