Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,679 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,896 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 2.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $32,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 53,458 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,201,000 after buying an additional 10,856 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,306 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,197,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,909,000 after buying an additional 6,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BFI Infinity Ltd. raised its stake in AbbVie by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. BFI Infinity Ltd. now owns 2,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $192.27. 5,775,647 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,238,863. The company's 50-day moving average is $183.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $339.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.11, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $218.66.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.29.

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.