AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Short Interest Down 8.7% in September

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) saw a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,790,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the August 31st total of 19,490,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3 %

ABBV stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $196.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,941,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,351,420. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $347.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.88, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $192.02 and a 200 day moving average of $176.34. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Piper Sandler upped their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.64.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Coast Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,413,000. Safeguard Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $235,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $87,000. 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.