AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.3% Higher

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price rose 0.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $179.77 and last traded at $179.15. Approximately 720,926 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 5,648,388 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Raymond James lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.6 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $319.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lokken Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in AbbVie by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Pine Capital LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 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.