AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.8% Higher

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $167.44 and last traded at $167.14. 1,193,372 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 5,592,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $292.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $175.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lokken Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, White Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.