V Square Quantitative Management LLC Lowers Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lowered its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $220.75 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $225.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $206.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.04. The firm has a market cap of $389.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.12, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.53.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 312.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Berenberg Bank upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% 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.