AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $188.70 and last traded at $183.46. Approximately 3,493,687 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 6,036,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.19.

AbbVie Stock Up 3.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $328.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $196.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.18.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. JNBA Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.5% in the first quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 9,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 30,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,365,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 49.4% during the first quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 8,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,836,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 1.9% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 15,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,255,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in AbbVie by 7.9% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 10,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after buying an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. 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.