AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.2% Higher – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price was up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $189.77 and last traded at $187.86. Approximately 2,195,997 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 6,091,390 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $194.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 383,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,086,000 after purchasing an additional 23,328 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co raised its position in AbbVie by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 13,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 223.4% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 15,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 10,947 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by 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.