Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its AbbVie stake by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, but still held 411,104 shares worth about $93.9 million.
• AbbVie has had several positive pipeline and regulatory updates, including FDA approval for DECNUPAZ in an ultra-rare blood cancer and an expanded European label for VENCLYXTO in untreated CLL.
• Wall Street remains constructive on AbbVie, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $253.43; the company also beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations in its latest report.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 411,104 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,111 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in AbbVie were worth $93,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $5,865,055,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in AbbVie by 457.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,439,714,000 after purchasing an additional 8,646,424 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,629,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,179,099,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190,487 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,306,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 9,337,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,733,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753,312 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie received U.S. FDA approval for DECNUPAZ, its first ADC approved for blood cancer, opening a new potential revenue stream in a highly specialized oncology market. U.S. FDA Approves DECNUPAZTM (pivekimab sunirine-pvzy) for Treatment of Adult Patients with Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm, an Ultra-Rare and Aggressive Blood Cancer With Limited Treatment Options
• Positive Sentiment: The European Commission expanded the VENCLYXTO label in untreated CLL, broadening use of an established oncology drug and potentially supporting international sales. AbbVie Announces European Commission Authorization of Expanded Label for VENCLYXTO® (venetoclax) to Include Additional Combinations in Previously Untreated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie advanced ABBV-519 into first-in-human testing, signaling continued momentum in its immunology pipeline. AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) Presents at EU Clinical Trial Regulation: Latest Developments and Upcoming Opportunities Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles note ABBV has outperformed since its last earnings report and remains viewed as reasonably valued by some analysts, but these are more commentary than fresh business catalysts. AbbVie (ABBV) Up 3.5% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.43.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $217.83 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $208.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.30, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.73 and a 1-year high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 576.45% and a net margin of 5.79%.The company's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About AbbVie

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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