State of Tennessee Treasury Department Lowers Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

State of Tennessee Treasury Department decreased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 746,641 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,246 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $118,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kalos Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. 67.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.37. 1,030,426 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,680,412. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $168.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.33, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.12. AbbVie had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 151.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.52 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 14th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 13th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 121.81%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 18,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.15, for a total value of $2,759,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 625,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,262,600.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of AbbVie from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Monday, August 28th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on AbbVie from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.79.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune, intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq, a JAK inhibitor to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, and ulcerative colitis; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat hematological malignancies.