AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) saw a significant decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,250,000 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the May 31st total of 16,490,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

ABBV opened at $163.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $289.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $164.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.82. AbbVie has a one year low of $132.70 and a one year high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 179.47% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 11.27 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 195.5% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 3,235 shares during the period. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $104,000. Elevatus Welath Management purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $214,000. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 19.4% during the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 20,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,101,000 after buying an additional 3,382 shares during the period. Finally, Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $217,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. HSBC upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.07.

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.