Birch Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Birch Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,939 shares during the quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter worth $36,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $171.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $303.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.56, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.93. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 179.47%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. HSBC upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.64.

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.