AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1% Higher – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $205.28 and last traded at $204.01. 1,147,665 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,699,005 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $181.25 and a 200 day moving average of $186.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $361.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results 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 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 23.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after buying an additional 10,768 shares during the period. 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.