AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 2.5% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) traded up 2.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $211.32 and last traded at $207.8320. 6,657,697 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 7,108,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DZ Bank upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on AbbVie from $294.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.10.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $372.71 billion, a PE ratio of 103.92, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $210.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.17.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 576.45% and a net margin of 5.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 340.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $5,147,630.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,771,510. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,865,055,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in AbbVie by 457.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,714,000 after buying an additional 8,646,424 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in AbbVie by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,071,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,986,777,000 after buying an additional 6,736,161 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in AbbVie by 914.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 5,444,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,244,112,000 after buying an additional 4,908,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,629,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,179,099,000 after buying an additional 4,190,487 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.