First Horizon Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,439 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $32,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $190.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The firm has a market cap of $336.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.18, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $187.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.23. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $218.66.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.29.

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.