AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 277,386 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,042 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $49,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in AbbVie by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company's stock worth $6,038,898,000 after buying an additional 778,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock worth $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $2.34 on Friday, hitting $184.02. The stock had a trading volume of 6,151,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,247,870. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $325.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company's 50 day moving average price is $191.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.97.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (down previously from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.95.

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.