Aegon Asset Management UK PLC Raises Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

by · The Markets Daily

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Aegon Asset Management UK PLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,148 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Aegon Asset Management UK PLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,839,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,682,169,000 after acquiring an additional 4,247,445 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 98.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,308,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $803,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,634,888 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 239.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,445,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,630,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431,209 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in AbbVie by 1,661.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,912,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,393 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 183.7% during the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,070,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340,970 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

NYSE:ABBV opened at $158.42 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $280.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.32. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.05 and a 52 week high of $161.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.16.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 2nd. The company reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm had revenue of $14.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.92 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.13 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 13th. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.44%.

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, December 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 17th. SVB Leerink reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AbbVie from $124.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on AbbVie from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.31.

In related news, Vice Chairman Robert A. Michael sold 43,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.25, for a total transaction of $6,390,316.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Carrie C. Strom sold 2,396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.17, for a total transaction of $338,243.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,129 shares of company stock worth $11,746,846. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Profile (Get Rating)

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals in the worldwide. The company offers HUMIRA, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases; SKYRIZI to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults; RINVOQ, a JAK inhibitor for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients; IMBRUVICA to treat adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), and VENCLEXTA, a BCL-2 inhibitor used to treat adults with CLL or SLL; and MAVYRET to treat patients with chronic HCV genotype 1-6 infection.

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