43,260 Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Purchased by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 43,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,687,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after purchasing an additional 983,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after purchasing an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,693 shares of company stock valued at $22,282,985 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $183.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $188.39 and a 200 day moving average of $186.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.46, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.