AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $199.50, but opened at $178.57. AbbVie shares last traded at $175.05, with a volume of 4,343,740 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.82.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $310.06 billion, a PE ratio of 60.64, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after acquiring an additional 9,978,415 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 1,745.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 249.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 156.0% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

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.