AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 0.4%

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 0.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $164.70 and last traded at $162.99. 994,479 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,611,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $287.80 billion, a PE ratio of 59.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,802,413.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,480,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.0% in the third quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 21.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,709,000 after purchasing an additional 6,139 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.