Norden Group LLC Reduces Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Norden Group LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,133 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,908 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 550.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,116,000 after buying an additional 3,666,521 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $581,817,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $222.88 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $204.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.04. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $225.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $393.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.14, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% 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.