Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 798,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,761 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 0.5% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $148,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 20,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in AbbVie by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 42,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,798,000 after buying an additional 3,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its stake in AbbVie by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 104,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,326,000 after buying an additional 37,866 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. 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 note on Friday, September 12th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $227.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 price target on AbbVie and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $225.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $397.90 billion, a PE ratio of 107.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $244.81.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 312.38%.

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.