Insider Selling: AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Sells 29,917 Shares of Stock

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a PE ratio of 87.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $209.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after buying an additional 3,373,156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

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.