AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.6% Higher – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $196.84 and last traded at $196.02. 1,760,529 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 5,752,276 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $180.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $354.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid 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 yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % 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. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 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.