Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,611 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,375 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $213.80 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $377.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.31.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

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.