Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,511 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,923 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 2.1% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after acquiring an additional 9,978,415 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 249.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,310 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 156.0% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,997 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $367,372,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $190.46 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.63. The company has a market capitalization of $336.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, William Blair raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.31.

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.