Krane Funds Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,659 shares of the company’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crestline Management LP boosted its position in AbbVie by 438.4% during the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after acquiring an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $189.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $335.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.48. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

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.