AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Issues Q1 Earnings Guidance

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) updated its first quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $2.34-2.38 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51. AbbVie also updated its FY25 guidance to $11.99-12.19 EPS.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV traded down $3.88 on Thursday, reaching $201.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,584,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,769,388. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market cap of $356.11 billion, a PE ratio of 83.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $199.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.22.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim raised their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % 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 this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in AbbVie stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 72.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,279 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,064 shares during the quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 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.