Trust Co. of Vermont Reduces Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,796 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,787 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises 1.7% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $34,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in AbbVie by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,038,898,000 after acquiring an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $187.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company has a market capitalization of $330.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $186.03 and its 200 day moving average is $187.88.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 279.15%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ABBV. Citigroup upped their price objective on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.29.

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.