AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Acquires 87,891 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 585,766 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,891 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.8% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $122,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. EnRich Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% during the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.95.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:ABBV opened at $186.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $158.83 and a one year 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.64.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% 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. Company 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.