AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 594,242 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,088 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.6% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $124,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in AbbVie by 197.6% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 119,141 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $204.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $361.75 billion, a PE ratio of 97.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $190.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.86. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.