Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 220,950 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,869,088 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 220,950 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of AbbVie worth $664,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Conning Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 191,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,458,000 after purchasing an additional 12,690 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.6% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 57,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,215,000 after buying an additional 10,891 shares during the last quarter. Dohj LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.8% during the second quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $720,000. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 33.0% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 853,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,723,000 after buying an additional 211,800 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ABBV opened at $223.02 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.39 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $224.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 168.95, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.36.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 3,216.47%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Raymond James Financial set a $256.00 price target on AbbVie in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. DZ Bank lowered AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $237.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $258.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $261.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.37.

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.