Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 56.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,810 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 656 shares during the quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the first quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,800,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,879,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $212.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $375.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66.

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). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 312.38%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. 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.