AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,143 shares of the company’s stock after selling 585 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 2.3% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $185.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.91 billion, a PE ratio of 79.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.81. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company 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.