AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 0.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) traded down 0.7% on Friday . The company traded as low as $210.07 and last traded at $210.51. 2,074,687 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 5,189,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.52 billion, a PE ratio of 87.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.