National Pension Service Sells 77,989 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

National Pension Service reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,856,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,989 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 0.7% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. National Pension Service’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $881,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 115.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved AbbVie’s DECNUPAZ (pivekimab sunirine-pvzy) for adults with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), an ultra-rare and aggressive blood cancer. This is AbbVie’s first approved antibody-drug conjugate for blood cancer and could open a new revenue stream while strengthening its oncology franchise. Reuters: US FDA approves AbbVie’s rare blood cancer drug
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie also announced it has launched a first-in-human Phase 1 study for ABBV-1451, signaling continued investment in its early-stage pipeline and potentially expanding future growth options beyond its current blockbuster portfolio. Article reference
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts/commentary pieces highlighted AbbVie’s pipeline strength, with Piper Sandler raising its price target and pointing to progress in inflammatory bowel disease and broader development programs. That reinforces the market’s view that ABBV has room for longer-term growth. Yahoo Finance: Piper Sandler raises price target on AbbVie

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Barclays started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on AbbVie from $294.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.43.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $218.66 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.68. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.73 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $386.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.