Sawyer & Company Inc Lowers Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,133 shares of the company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $3,229,888,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $499,955,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in AbbVie by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 44,988,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,971,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542,463 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in AbbVie by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,422,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,252,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,415 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $171.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $164.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.54. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.13 and a 52-week high of $182.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 179.47%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.