Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Raises Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 80.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,981 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,126 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management's holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company's stock worth $6,586,948,000 after buying an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded down $5.45 on Tuesday, hitting $185.41. The company had a trading volume of 4,732,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,245,958. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.90, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $184.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. AbbVie's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.29.

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.