Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Reduces Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,532 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.1% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $33,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 115.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $235.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.43.

AbbVie Stock Up 3.5%

AbbVie stock opened at $224.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $397.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.74, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $209.43 and its 200 day moving average is $219.30. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.73 and a twelve month high of $244.81.

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

AbbVie News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie won U.K. NHS backing for Elahere, its ovarian cancer therapy, and Reuters reported the British drug-cost watchdog recommended the treatment for a hard-to-treat form of ovarian cancer, improving access and potential sales in a key market. British drug-cost watchdog recommends use of AbbVie’s ovarian cancer therapy
• Positive Sentiment: The company also received European Commission approval for Aquipta to treat migraine, adding a second approved migraine indication and broadening the drug’s commercial opportunity. AbbVie receives EC approval for Aquipta to treat migraine
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage also highlighted AbbVie’s oncology strategy after Decnupaz approval, signaling that management is building a larger antibody-drug conjugate pipeline that could create longer-term upside. Does Decnupaz Approval Validate ABBV’s ADC Strategy in Oncology?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent clinical-study updates, including completion of an upadacitinib study in China and a bioavailability study for ABBV-932, suggest steady pipeline progress, but they are not immediate revenue catalysts. AbbVie Completes Real World Upadacitinib Study in China: What Investors Should Watch AbbVie Advances ABBV-932 With Completed Bioavailability Study
• Negative Sentiment: AbbVie also ended an early-stage lung cancer trial for ABBV-647, which trims one potential oncology growth driver and adds some caution around pipeline execution. AbbVie Ends Early Lung Cancer Trial for ABBV-647

AbbVie Company 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.