AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Down 2.1% – Time to Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded down 2.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $204.53 and last traded at $204.88. 1,360,577 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 5,250,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 4.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $352.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.42, 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $195.14 and its 200 day moving average is $188.73.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,523,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.