Conning Inc. Has $35.85 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Conning Inc. reduced its AbbVie stake by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,167 shares and leaving it with 156,914 shares valued at about $35.85 million.
• Several major institutional investors also adjusted their ABBV holdings, and institutions now own 70.23% of AbbVie’s shares, highlighting continued heavy institutional interest.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on AbbVie after its latest earnings beat, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $253.10; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.73 per share.

Conning Inc. decreased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,914 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,167 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 1.2% of Conning Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Conning Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $35,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in AbbVie by 457.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company's stock worth $41,306,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,438 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.8% in 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 buying an additional 2,753,312 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,281,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,685,918,000 after buying an additional 1,758,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,508,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,418,909,000 after buying an additional 1,414,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $234.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $294.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their target price on AbbVie from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,771,510. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ABBV opened at $210.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.92, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.57 and a 12 month high of $244.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.17.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 340.89%.

AbbVie Company Profile

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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