Legato Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 53.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,768 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,622 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after buying an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,096,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,088,000 after acquiring an additional 781,858 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp lifted its position in AbbVie by 486.1% during the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $193.06 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $177.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.86. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.16 billion, a PE ratio of 80.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa America cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

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.