AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.5% Higher

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $194.80 and last traded at $194.73. 523,042 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 5,350,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.18.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in AbbVie by 6.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after acquiring an additional 3,110,601 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,698,847,000 after acquiring an additional 992,496 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,382,000 after acquiring an additional 134,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,984,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,434 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.