Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 1,608,836 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 54.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,349,044 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,608,836 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $293,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,865,055,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,646,424 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in AbbVie by 106.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in AbbVie by 914.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 5,444,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,244,112,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,629,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,179,099,000 after acquiring an additional 4,190,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Key AbbVie News

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie announced European Commission approval of SKYRIZI for pediatric plaque psoriasis, expanding the drug’s addressable market into younger patients and adding a new dosing option. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie also received EU approval for MAVIRET in acute hepatitis C, strengthening an already approved franchise and broadening its use in Europe. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie expanded its pipeline with a new early-stage bretisilocin Phase 1 safety study, signaling continued investment in future growth assets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple market articles highlighted AbbVie as a potential value/dividend buy and noted analyst price-target support, which may reinforce investor confidence but does not by itself change fundamentals. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces focused on the broader M&A narrative and the Apogee takeover process, including shareholder scrutiny and investor commentary, which keeps attention on execution risk around the deal. Article Title

AbbVie Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE ABBV opened at $234.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $414.83 billion, a PE ratio of 115.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.73 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $213.64 and a 200-day moving average of $218.83.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 576.45% and a net margin of 5.79%.AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 issued a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 340.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on AbbVie from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.81.

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.