AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price fell 0.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $211.11 and last traded at $211.88. 691,856 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,190,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $373.66 billion, a PE ratio of 88.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.48.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. M1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,213,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $981,000. Thoma Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $551,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $104,347,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

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.