SlateStone Wealth LLC Sells 3,650 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• SlateStone Wealth LLC reduced its position in AbbVie by 8.7%, selling 3,650 shares, which leaves them with 38,531 shares valued at $8.07 million.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, with a 3.46% yield and a high payout ratio of 279.15%.
• Wall Street analysts have set a consensus target price of $211.29 for AbbVie, with a majority rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy."

SlateStone Wealth LLC trimmed its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,531 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,650 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crestline Management LP increased its position in AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after acquiring an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock worth $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares during the period. AXA S.A. increased its position in AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock worth $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock worth $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock traded up $6.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $195.17. The company had a trading volume of 8,081,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,877,075. The company has a market capitalization of $344.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.04. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.81.

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.