AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $193.38 and last traded at $192.32. 1,649,645 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 6,220,386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $336.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.45, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 69,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,573,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,669,000 after buying an additional 100,418 shares during the period. Windle Wealth LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 41,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 65,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,641,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $7,533,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.