Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,824 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,356 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $33,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,144,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,466,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in 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 buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.29.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $185.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.58. The stock has a market cap of $327.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS 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.