Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 20,090 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 336,613 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,090 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 0.5% of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $76,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,940,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,494,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119,274 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,629,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,179,099,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190,487 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,824,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,900,617,000 after purchasing an additional 356,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,865,055,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays assumed 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 lifted their price target on AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.43.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $221.25 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $211.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.85. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.73 and a 1 year high of $244.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.99, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.32.

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

AbbVie News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie presented new Phase 3 data on its fixed-duration venetoclax-based combination at the European Hematology Association Congress, adding to the company’s oncology pipeline credibility and reinforcing the long-term growth case for ABBV. AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) Presents Data on Fixed-Duration Venetoclax-Based Combination
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie also highlighted progress in a late-stage colorectal cancer study for ABBV-400, keeping the drug candidate in the spotlight and signaling that the company still has multiple pipeline catalysts beyond its core immunology franchise. AbbVie’s New Phase 3 Colorectal Cancer Trial Puts ABBV-400 in the Late-Stage Spotlight
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary has focused on AbbVie’s strong first-quarter execution, including revenue of about $15.0 billion and raised full-year EPS guidance, which supports the view that the business is performing better than many expected. This $15 Billion Operational Beat Just Rewrote the Entire Bear Thesis for AbbVie
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted that AbbVie remains a widely watched and frequently recommended stock, with investors focusing on analyst sentiment, dividend appeal, and the company’s valuation as they assess whether recent gains can continue. AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market coverage also pointed to AbbVie as a possible dividend and defensive healthcare holding, but these pieces were mostly reiterations of the stock’s established investment case rather than new price-moving developments. Brokers Suggest Investing in AbbVie (ABBV): Read This Before Placing a Bet

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.