AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.8% Higher – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price was up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $178.13 and last traded at $177.57. Approximately 765,093 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 5,508,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.38.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $313.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.