AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,000,000 shares, a drop of 8.3% from the December 15th total of 18,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $175.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. AbbVie has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.5% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,383,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors acquired a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth approximately $242,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 2.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 278,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,735,000 after acquiring an additional 5,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in AbbVie by 22.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,868,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,075,000 after acquiring an additional 529,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

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.