AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Short Interest Up 8.9% in October

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBVGet Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,180,000 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the September 30th total of 14,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $2.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $203.87. The stock had a trading volume of 8,605,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,333,263. The business’s 50 day moving average is $194.00 and its 200-day moving average is $179.09. The company has a market cap of $360.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.79, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $135.85 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBVGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $218.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Get Our Latest Research Report on ABBV

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $933,698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in AbbVie by 249.1% in the first 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 position in AbbVie by 6.9% in 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 during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in AbbVie by 156.0% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,997 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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