AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was up 0.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $212.15 and last traded at $210.66. Approximately 1,848,588 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 6,323,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $362.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $199.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.22.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.3% in the first quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 10,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Marotta Asset Management now owns 1,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South raised its stake in AbbVie by 2.6% during the first quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 5,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 24,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.