Congress Asset Management Co. MA Lowers Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA decreased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,984 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $15,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $196,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,374,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,060,000 after acquiring an additional 93,443 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $1,307,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, May 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, HSBC upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.21.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $168.59. 4,377,638 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,854,812. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $163.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93. The company has a market cap of $297.71 billion, a PE ratio of 50.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.60. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 179.47%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.