AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $171.67 and last traded at $171.22. 1,877,602 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 5,399,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. 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 research report on Wednesday. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.83.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $193.61 and a 200-day moving average of $180.91.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth $27,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.