AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price was up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $207.42 and last traded at $205.66. Approximately 1,447,474 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 5,755,371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $205.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $184.42 and a 200-day moving average of $186.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,038,898,000 after acquiring an additional 778,126 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.