AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Short Interest Up 12.1% in October

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,130,000 shares, a growth of 12.1% from the October 15th total of 16,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $166.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,336,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,482,502. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.04. 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 $293.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $137.14 and a 1 year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in AbbVie by 249.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120,310 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after acquiring an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $367,372,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,744,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,956,518,000 after buying an additional 1,291,201 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.89.

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.