Brookstone Capital Management Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Brookstone Capital Management reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) by 25.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,151 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,433,269,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,357,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,745,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,597,076 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $272,868,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in AbbVie by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,615,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,572,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in AbbVie by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,533,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.03% of the company’s stock.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $142.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.75.

In other AbbVie news, EVP Henry O. Gosebruch sold 83,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $13,013,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,623 shares in the company, valued at $2,576,565. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Michael Severino sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.28, for a total transaction of $15,028,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 152,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,858,038.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 463,761 shares of company stock worth $70,609,771 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $147.56 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $150.17 and a 200 day moving average of $146.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.83. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.56 and a 12-month high of $175.91.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 29th. The company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.01. AbbVie had a net margin of 22.00% and a return on equity of 159.31%. The business had revenue of $13.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.02 EPS for the current year.

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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