Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Reduces Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 152,336 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,584 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $28,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LifeWealth Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 10.5% in the second quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 2,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $566,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 59,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,082,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $228.57 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $219.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.28. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The firm has a market cap of $403.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 312.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. HSBC set a $225.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.