AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 2% – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $175.09 and last traded at $174.94. 2,559,459 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 5,541,099 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.70.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $310.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.