New Century Financial Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

New Century Financial Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 74.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,860 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,313 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ABBV traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $190.67. 4,965,464 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,243,963. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $336.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. The stock's 50-day moving average is $184.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.49.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.29.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.