National Pension Service Sells 77,989 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• National Pension Service reduced its AbbVie stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 77,989 shares and leaving it with 3,856,731 shares worth about $881.2 million.
• AbbVie received a major boost as the FDA approved DECNUPAZ for a rare and aggressive blood cancer, marking its first approved antibody-drug conjugate for blood cancer and potentially opening a new revenue stream.
• The company also posted solid quarterly results, with EPS of $2.65 and revenue of $15 billion, both above analyst expectations, while Wall Street sentiment remains positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating.

National Pension Service trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,856,731 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,989 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 0.7% of National Pension Service's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.22% of AbbVie worth $881,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 22,912 shares of the company's stock worth $4,072,000 after purchasing an additional 3,401 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the company's stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in AbbVie by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 16,466 shares of the company's stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 120,035 shares of the company's stock worth $22,281,000 after purchasing an additional 5,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 117.3% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,135,034 shares of the company's stock worth $210,685,000 after purchasing an additional 612,702 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $294.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $249.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research 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 issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.43.

Trending Headlines about AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved AbbVie’s DECNUPAZ (pivekimab sunirine-pvzy) for adults with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), an ultra-rare and aggressive blood cancer. This is AbbVie’s first approved antibody-drug conjugate for blood cancer and could open a new revenue stream while strengthening its oncology franchise. Reuters: US FDA approves AbbVie's rare blood cancer drug
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie also announced it has launched a first-in-human Phase 1 study for ABBV-1451, signaling continued investment in its early-stage pipeline and potentially expanding future growth options beyond its current blockbuster portfolio. Article reference
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts/commentary pieces highlighted AbbVie’s pipeline strength, with Piper Sandler raising its price target and pointing to progress in inflammatory bowel disease and broader development programs. That reinforces the market’s view that ABBV has room for longer-term growth. Yahoo Finance: Piper Sandler raises price target on AbbVie

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $218.66 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $208.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.68. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.73 and a twelve month high of $244.81. The firm has a market cap of $386.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.32.

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

AbbVie 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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