Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,367,381 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,058 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 0.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.25% of AbbVie worth $795,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after buying an additional 1,450,089 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 44,988,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,971,796,000 after acquiring an additional 2,542,463 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,085,000 after acquiring an additional 914,485 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,229,888,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $163.84 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.70 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.82. The company has a market capitalization of $289.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.07.

AbbVie 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.