Tredje AP fonden Trims Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Tredje AP fonden reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 662,843 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,945 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 1.1% of Tredje AP fonden’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $151,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,747,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,155,601,000 after purchasing an additional 448,554 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in AbbVie by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,044,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,888,000 after purchasing an additional 151,644 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,024,000 after purchasing an additional 81,625 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 55,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,885,000 after purchasing an additional 5,302 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 32,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,427 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $370.27 billion, a PE ratio of 103.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.92. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $180.25 and a one year high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $1.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 340.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,771,510. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $294.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore set a $235.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.43.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.