Short Interest in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Increases By 11.3%

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,170,000 shares, a growth of 11.3% from the October 31st total of 18,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.1 %

AbbVie stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $181.50. The stock had a trading volume of 4,106,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,530,602. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.14. AbbVie has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $320.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.54, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.