AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 3.2% After Earnings Beat

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $195.62 and last traded at $195.56. 1,742,085 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 5,274,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.45.

The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $218.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 249.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 156.0% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,619,000 after buying an additional 2,116,997 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $360.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.00 and its 200-day moving average is $179.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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.