Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Reduces Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,751 shares of the company’s stock after selling 381 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.64.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $192.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $340.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $199.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.44 and a 200-day moving average of $174.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

AbbVie 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.