AbbVie Inc (ABBV): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is it smart to be bullish on AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV)?

Now, according to many investors, hedge funds are seen as overrated, outdated investment tools of a period lost to current times. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open in present day, Insider Monkey focuses on the bigwigs of this club, around 525 funds. It is assumed that this group controls the majority of the smart money’s total assets, and by watching their highest performing stock picks, we’ve brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we‘ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find the details here).

Just as useful, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of stimuli for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if you know what to do (learn more here).

Thus, it’s important to study the newest info about AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV).

What have hedge funds been doing with AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 41 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 5% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital had the most valuable position in AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV), worth close to $232.3 million, comprising 4% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell of Arrowstreet Capital, with a $199.5 million position; 1.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital and Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, certain money managers were breaking ground themselves. Point State Capital, managed by Sean Cullinan, established the biggest position in AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV). Point State Capital had 232.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also initiated a $199.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ABBV positions are Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital, and Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors.

What have insiders been doing with AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV). These stocks are Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK), Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY), AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN), and Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY). This group of stocks are in the drug manufacturers – major industry and their market caps match ABBV’s market cap.

Using the results shown by Insider Monkey’s research, regular investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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