AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Stock Holdings Trimmed by Frontier Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Frontier Asset Management cut its AbbVie stake by 50.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,545 shares and leaving it with 12,415 shares worth about $2.84 million.
• AbbVie reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $2.65 and revenue of $15 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue rose 12.4% year over year, supported by growth beyond Humira in drugs like Skyrizi and Rinvoq.
• The company remains well-covered by Wall Street, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $252.90. AbbVie also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.73 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.4%.

Frontier Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 50.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,415 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,545 shares during the period. Frontier Asset Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company's stock worth $41,306,353,000 after buying an additional 3,032,438 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,004,084 shares of the company's stock worth $2,779,426,000 after buying an additional 493,420 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 457.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company's stock worth $2,439,714,000 after purchasing an additional 8,646,424 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 10,508,317 shares of the company's stock worth $2,418,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,621 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,675,877 shares of the company's stock worth $2,241,363,000 after purchasing an additional 408,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Berenberg Bank set a $275.00 target price on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on AbbVie from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on AbbVie from $299.00 to $294.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore lowered their price target on AbbVie from $232.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $252.90.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $201.24 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $213.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.00. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.57 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The company has a market capitalization of $355.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 911.57% and a net margin of 5.79%.The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 340.89%.

Key Stories Impacting AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie continued to draw bullish attention after reporting strong first-quarter results, with revenue and earnings coming in ahead of expectations and showing that growth is extending beyond Humira into newer drugs like Skyrizi and Rinvoq. AbbVie Delivers Strong Q1 Earnings Beyond Humira. This Dividend King Still Shines.
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie completed an early safety study for ABBV-142, which may improve investor confidence in the company’s pipeline and future oncology growth prospects. AbbVie Completes Early Safety Study for ABBV-142, Nudging Pipeline Hopes Higher
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie and adMare BioInnovations named RIME Therapeutics as a Biotech Innovators Award winner, reinforcing AbbVie’s efforts to support early-stage biotech innovation and build optionality around its pipeline ecosystem. AbbVie (ABBV), adMare BioInnovations Name RIME Therapeutics as Biotech Innovators Award Winner
• Positive Sentiment: Skyrizi ranked ahead of J&J’s Tremfya in April drug ad spending, signaling continued competitive momentum and heavy marketing support for one of AbbVie’s key growth brands. AbbVie’s Skyrizi beats out J&J’s Tremfya in April drug ad spending leaderboard
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and Q1 earnings-call recaps highlighted ongoing interest in AbbVie’s post-Humira growth strategy, but these pieces were mostly interpretive rather than new market-moving disclosures. 5 must-read analyst questions from AbbVie’s Q1 earnings call
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on SKYRIZI expansion and reimbursement progress in Canada suggests continued international adoption, but the article framed these as part of an already constructive longer-term thesis rather than a single new catalyst. Does Strong Q1 Results And SKYRIZI Expansion Reshape The Bull Case For AbbVie (ABBV)?
• Negative Sentiment: One relative headwind is that ABBV shares have recently traded below key moving averages, reflecting some investor caution even as fundamentals remain solid.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $619,868.24. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares in the company, valued at $8,771,510. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.

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