Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,791 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,061 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 4,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Lokken Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. RAM Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 7,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 4,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $196.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $346.55 billion, a PE ratio of 58.23, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $181.44 and a 200 day moving average of $173.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $135.85 and a one year high of $198.30.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 186.82%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.