AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 1.5% Following Earnings Beat

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 1.5% on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $207.24 and last traded at $204.60. 2,008,164 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 5,301,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.50.

The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $218.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. GGM Financials LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,575,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $360.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.09.

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.