Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $139.44 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 66.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 665,533 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,323,453 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $139,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock worth $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased 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 purchasing an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $4,459,385,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $192.27. 5,775,647 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,238,863. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.63 billion, a PE ratio of 80.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $183.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.