Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,957 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,002 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $15,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FF Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.6% in the second quarter. FF Advisors LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.9% in the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the second quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in AbbVie by 10.8% in the first quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seneca House Advisors grew its holdings in AbbVie by 2.7% in the second quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $231.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.53 billion, a PE ratio of 110.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $213.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.43.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. AbbVie’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 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

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.