Profund Advisors LLC Buys 7,561 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Key Points

• Profund Advisors LLC increased its AbbVie stake by 24% in the fourth quarter, buying 7,561 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 39,010 shares worth about $8.9 million.
• Institutional ownership in AbbVie remains heavy, with hedge funds and other large investors holding 70.23% of the stock; several firms, including Vanguard and Wellington, also boosted their positions.
• AbbVie posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.65 versus estimates of $2.59 and revenue of $15 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $253.43.

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,010 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,561 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 457.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,439,714,000 after buying an additional 8,646,424 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company's stock worth $41,306,353,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032,438 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,753,312 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,758,657 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 15.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 10,508,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,418,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,621 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Barclays began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $249.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.43.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $209.57 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $209.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.92. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.25 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The company has a market cap of $370.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.24, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. AbbVie's revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 340.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,771,510. The trade was a 36.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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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