Arizona State Retirement System Increases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 518,607 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,599 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 0.7% of Arizona State Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in AbbVie were worth $108,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Realta Investment Advisors increased its holdings in AbbVie by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 5,634 shares of the company's stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the company's stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 42,336 shares of the company's stock worth $8,870,000 after acquiring an additional 4,723 shares in the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in AbbVie by 33.1% in the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,656 shares of the company's stock worth $1,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coyle Financial Counsel LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 7,057 shares of the company's stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $2.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $192.32. The company had a trading volume of 4,990,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,311,659. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $339.71 billion, a PE ratio of 81.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.48. The company's fifty day moving average is $187.01 and its 200 day moving average is $189.05. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is 279.15%.

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.