Korea Investment CORP Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP has increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 1.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 1.34 million shares valued at $281 million.
• Various institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., have significantly increased their holdings in AbbVie, indicating strong interest in the company's prospects.
• AbbVie reported quarterly earnings of $2.97 per share, missing estimates, but revenue was up 6.6% year-over-year, amounting to $15.42 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,341,340 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,502 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.7% of Korea Investment CORP's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of AbbVie worth $281,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.9% in the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% in the first quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, High Falls Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 1,863 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Bank of America boosted their price target on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV traded up $2.5340 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $208.7240. The company had a trading volume of 5,781,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a market capitalization of $368.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $192.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.68.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is 312.38%.

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.