Employees Provident Fund Board Makes New Investment in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

AbbVie logo with Medical background
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Key Points

  • Employees Provident Fund Board initiated a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter, buying 145,000 shares worth about $33.1 million.
  • AbbVie is drawing attention for a potential $10.9 billion acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics, which could bolster its eczema and inflammatory-disease pipeline and support future growth.
  • The company continues to show solid shareholder returns and operating momentum, with a quarterly dividend of $1.73 per share and recent earnings that beat expectations on both EPS and revenue.
  • MarketBeat previews top five stocks to own in July.

Employees Provident Fund Board bought a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 145,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,131,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25.5% in the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,024,000 after acquiring an additional 81,625 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 55,647 shares of the company's stock worth $12,885,000 after acquiring an additional 5,302 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 32,752 shares of the company's stock worth $7,484,000 after acquiring an additional 5,427 shares during the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 358.1% during the 3rd quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 14,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 11,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waycross Partners LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 182,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,063 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $216.63 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $212.18 and a 200-day moving average of $218.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $181.73 and a 52 week high of $244.81.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 340.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $235.00 price target on AbbVie in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, March 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given 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.

View Our Latest Research Report on ABBV

AbbVie Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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