AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Reduced by Axecap Investments LLC

Axecap Investments LLC cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,969 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,870 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 3.7% of Axecap Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Axecap Investments LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $192.27. The company had a trading volume of 5,775,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,238,863. The company has a market capitalization of $339.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.11, a P/E/G 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. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $183.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.