Garland Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Garland Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,635 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 6.4% of Garland Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Garland Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crestline Management LP boosted its position in AbbVie by 438.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after buying an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in AbbVie by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its position in AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Group increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 17,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,190,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $185.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $327.06 billion, a PE ratio of 78.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.52 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABBV. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.29.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.