AbbVie Inc. $ABBV is Garland Capital Management Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Garland Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 71.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,455 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises approximately 5.5% of Garland Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Garland Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,439,271,000 after buying an additional 845,787 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after buying an additional 189,294 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,675,959,000 after purchasing an additional 713,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,413,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,972,050,000 after purchasing an additional 45,871 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $228.06 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $220.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $199.24. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.81 and a 12 month high of $244.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $402.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.51.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.