West Branch Capital LLC Grows Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,368 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 2.1% of West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crestline Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after buying an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Group raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 17,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,190,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.29.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:ABBV opened at $190.67 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $184.21 and its 200-day moving average is $187.49. The firm has a market cap of $336.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.