AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Cut by Seascape Capital Management

Seascape Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,073 shares of the company’s stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 2.0% of Seascape Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Seascape Capital Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,586,948,000 after buying an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after purchasing an additional 778,126 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in AbbVie by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,878,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299,645 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $189.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.37 and a 200-day moving average of $188.46. The company has a market capitalization of $334.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.64, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.63 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald started 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. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.