Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $17.38 Million Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 13.2%, now holding 82,955 shares worth approximately $17.4 million.
• Significant increases in holdings were reported by other institutional investors, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by 25,841.6% , owning over 10 million shares valued at about $2.14 billion.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, representing a 3.3% yield, although the company has a high payout ratio of 312.38%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,955 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,656 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock worth $36,439,271,000 after buying an additional 845,787 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company's stock worth $6,038,898,000 after buying an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,236,000 after buying an additional 2,299,645 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in AbbVie by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,410,277 shares of the company's stock worth $2,915,990,000 after buying an additional 959,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 31.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $198.10. The stock had a trading volume of 4,101,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,210,216. The company has a 50-day moving average of $189.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The company has a market cap of $349.96 billion, a PE ratio of 94.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.