AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Timothy J. Richmond Sells 29,917 Shares

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV traded up $4.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $209.07. The stock had a trading volume of 13,131,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,058,054. The firm has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.11, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $209.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 196.4% during the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

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.