AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 0.2%

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $195.73 and last traded at $196.07. Approximately 603,604 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 5,477,439 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $178.93 and a 200-day moving average of $173.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $348.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.62, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 610,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,666,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in AbbVie by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 8,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth $1,409,000. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the second quarter worth $272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.