Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 768,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,357 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 0.5% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $136,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crestline Management LP grew its position in AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after buying an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after buying an additional 108,993 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in AbbVie by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its position in AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after buying an additional 125,568 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Group grew its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 17,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,190,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 107,693 shares of company stock worth $22,282,985. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.95.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $182.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $189.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.55. The stock has a market cap of $322.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.97, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

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

AbbVie Profile

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.