Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Sells 650 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,912 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.9% of Criterion Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. HSBC upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $171.52. 24,463,599 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,432,583. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $164.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.44. The company has a market cap of $302.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.90, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.60. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.13 and a 12-month high of $182.89.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

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.