AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 1.8% – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares rose 1.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $217.62 and last traded at $218.09. Approximately 1,999,462 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 5,987,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $382.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.26, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $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.