AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Position Trimmed by Garland Capital Management Inc.

Garland Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 71.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,455 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 5.5% of Garland Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Garland Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,819,154,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 550.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,666,521 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at about $581,817,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,367,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,863 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $228.06 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.24. The company has a market capitalization of $402.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.51. 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 $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. UBS Group set a $251.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 price target on shares of AbbVie and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% 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.