Westend Capital Management LLC Sells 599 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Westend Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 0.6% of Westend Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Westend Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. TD Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter worth $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $222.29 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.85, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $203.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.78. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $223.49.

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). The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid 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 3.0%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.68.

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.