SFE Investment Counsel Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

SFE Investment Counsel decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,922 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. State Street Corp raised its position in AbbVie by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,691,732,000 after purchasing an additional 511,470 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after purchasing an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

ABBV stock opened at $193.06 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.44, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie 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.