Shell Asset Management Co. Purchases 167 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,710 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,156 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $181.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $191.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.11. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.