AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 3.2% After Dividend Announcement

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares shot up 3.2% during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $195.62 and last traded at $195.56. 1,742,085 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 5,274,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.45.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on AbbVie from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.39.

AbbVie Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.75 and a 200-day moving average of $178.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.03, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Company 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.