AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.6% After Analyst Upgrade

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares were up 0.6% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $240.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $211.13 and last traded at $209.01. Approximately 1,149,669 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,996,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.76.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the 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 directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing 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 about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.14. The company has a market cap of $368.94 billion, a PE ratio of 87.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

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.