New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 1,605 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• The New York State Teachers Retirement System sold 1,605 shares of AbbVie Inc. in the 2nd quarter, reducing its holdings to about 1.5 million shares, which constitutes 0.6% of its portfolio.
• Analysts are optimistic about AbbVie's stock, with several firms raising their price targets, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo, reflecting a consensus target price of $231.90.
• Additionally, AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, yielding approximately 2.9%, with an extraordinarily high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,524,269 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,605 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 0.6% of New York State Teachers Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of AbbVie worth $282,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of 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. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $251.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $231.90.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $226.31 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $244.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $216.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.77, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

AbbVie Company 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.

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