Polaris Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Polaris Capital Management LLC cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 152,644 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,000 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.9% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $28,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 845,787 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,612,357,000 after purchasing an additional 189,294 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after buying an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,675,959,000 after buying an additional 713,148 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,413,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,972,050,000 after buying an additional 45,871 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $234.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $210.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.01. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.81 and a 1 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 has a market capitalization of $413.49 billion, a PE ratio of 111.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. UBS Group set a $251.00 price target on AbbVie in a research note on Friday. HSBC set a $225.00 price target on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Daiwa America upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.22.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

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.