AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,233 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 119,141 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $201.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.89, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.67. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.