J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,613 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $15,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,747,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,155,601,000 after buying an additional 448,554 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 17.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,044,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,888,000 after buying an additional 151,644 shares during the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 25.5% during the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,024,000 after buying an additional 81,625 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 10.5% during the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 55,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,885,000 after purchasing an additional 5,302 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 32,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,427 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting AbbVie

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $235.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $224.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.30. The company has a market cap of $397.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.73 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81.

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

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.