HM Payson & Co. Sells 3,948 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

HM Payson & Co. lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 611,755 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,948 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 2.2% of HM Payson & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $128,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Crestline Management LP lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 438.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in AbbVie by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its stake in AbbVie by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $189.50. 3,706,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,249,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $334.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $187.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.68. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.