AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Position Cut by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 53.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 330,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 385,935 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $71,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 7,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV now owns 5,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on AbbVie to $282 from $273 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued confidence in the company’s earnings power and pipeline. Benzinga / The Fly report
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie’s Allergan Aesthetics unit won European Commission approval for Boey, a short-acting botulinum toxin, expanding its aesthetics portfolio and adding another growth driver outside its core immunology business. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces highlighted AbbVie as a high-quality dividend stock and suggested its long-term outlook remains attractive, but that much of the optimism may already be reflected in the share price. Motley Fool article
• Negative Sentiment: Genmab and AbbVie clarified that the U.S. primary endpoint in the Phase 3 EPCORE DLBCL-1 trial was overall survival, and that endpoint was not met, which could pressure sentiment around AbbVie’s oncology franchise and the epcoritamab program. Yahoo Finance article
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst coverage also noted AbbVie’s oncology revenue may remain under pressure in Q2, as weakness in Imbruvica could offset gains from Venclexta and newer therapies. Yahoo Finance article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on AbbVie from $273.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $235.00 price target on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.10.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $256.80 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.62 and a twelve month high of $261.64. The company has a market capitalization of $453.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.50, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $233.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 340.89%.

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.