SVB Wealth LLC Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

SVB Wealth LLC decreased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 58,289 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,374 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 0.8% of SVB Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $5,865,055,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 457.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,646,424 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in AbbVie by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,071,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,986,777,000 after acquiring an additional 6,736,161 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in AbbVie by 914.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 5,444,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,244,112,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,629,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,179,099,000 after acquiring an additional 4,190,487 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, March 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $249.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, May 1st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.81.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $235.04 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $213.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.79. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.73 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The firm has a market cap of $415.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 340.89%.

Key Stories Impacting AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie agreed to buy Apogee Therapeutics for about $10.9 billion in cash, a move that adds late-stage candidates for atopic dermatitis and asthma and is being viewed as a strategic boost to AbbVie’s immunology franchise. Reuters: AbbVie strikes $10.9 billion deal for Apogee Therapeutics
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said the Apogee deal could pay off over the long term despite some near-term dilution, since it deepens AbbVie’s immunology pipeline and supports growth beyond Humira. Benzinga: AbbVie’s Costly Apogee Acquisition Has Long-Term Upside: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie also secured European Commission approval for SKYRIZI in pediatric plaque psoriasis, expanding the drug’s addressable market and reinforcing momentum behind one of the company’s key growth products. Yahoo Finance: AbbVie Announces European Commission Approval of SKYRIZI
• Positive Sentiment: The European Commission also approved MAVIRET for acute hepatitis C infection, giving AbbVie a broader EU label for the antiviral and potentially supporting incremental international sales. PR Newswire: AbbVie Announces European Commission Approval of MAVIRET
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and lifted its price target to $298, signaling continued Wall Street confidence in AbbVie’s growth outlook. Benzinga reference

About AbbVie

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.