AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 0.5% – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares shot up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $198.11 and last traded at $197.33. 981,030 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,734,237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $356.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.29.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 3.25%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % 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. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,777,000. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,186,000. Finally, Wallington Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $277,000. 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.