AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.4% Following Dividend Announcement

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares traded up 0.4% during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $195.18 and last traded at $194.24. 974,814 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,784,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.45.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $178.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GGM Financials LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peninsula Wealth LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently 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.