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

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) rose 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $194.28 and last traded at $193.89. Approximately 864,647 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,841,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group increased their target price 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $178.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.04. The firm has a market cap of $341.05 billion, a PE ratio of 80.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 257.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $8,777,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in AbbVie by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 750,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,086,000 after purchasing an additional 40,925 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares in the last quarter. HFG Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 29.4% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 500 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.