Bristlecone Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC trimmed its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,515 shares of the company’s stock after selling 286 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after buying an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,698,847,000 after purchasing an additional 992,496 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,382,000 after purchasing an additional 134,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,434 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $187.85 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.85 and a twelve month high of $199.95. The company has a market capitalization of $331.72 billion, a PE ratio of 55.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.40.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.39.

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.