Bleakley Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,414 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its stake in AbbVie by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,771,510. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore set a $235.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, May 15th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $216.02 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.71 and a 52-week high of $244.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $381.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $208.53 and a 200-day moving average of $219.73.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.