AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price was down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $233.71 and last traded at $234.07. Approximately 6,538,863 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 6,498,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $236.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.22.

AbbVie Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $413.49 billion, a PE ratio of 111.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $210.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.90.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $26,000. TD Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 82.9% in the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter worth about $30,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.