Vicus Capital Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Vicus Capital reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,277 shares of the company’s stock after selling 393 shares during the period. Vicus Capital’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $171.52. 24,463,599 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,432,583. The company has a market capitalization of $302.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.60. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.13 and a 52-week high of $182.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $164.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 179.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.64.

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.