AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 1% – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was up 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $189.89 and last traded at $189.70. Approximately 2,663,769 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 5,273,974 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.39.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $331.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.