BNP Paribas Boosts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

BNP Paribas grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 62.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,270 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,139 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $5,865,055,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in AbbVie by 457.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,714,000 after purchasing an additional 8,646,424 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,190,487 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,306,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 9,337,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,733,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753,312 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $212.63 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.73 and a twelve month high of $244.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $208.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.58. The stock has a market cap of $375.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 576.45% and a net margin of 5.79%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Barclays initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, February 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.43.

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.