Sphera Funds Management LTD. Reduces Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sphera Funds Management LTD. reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,744 shares during the period. Sphera Funds Management LTD.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Crestline Management LP boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,275,000 after acquiring an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its stake in AbbVie by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares during the period. Finally, Sky Investment Group LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $181.52 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.89 and a 200 day moving average of $187.11. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $321.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.63, 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (down previously from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.