AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price fell 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $169.25 and last traded at $170.41. 990,980 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,735,005 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.67.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.74 and a 200-day moving average of $184.63. The stock has a market cap of $301.76 billion, a PE ratio of 59.30, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 558,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,122,000 after purchasing an additional 53,265 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,751,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,237,000 after acquiring an additional 15,962 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 79.5% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 76,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,164,000 after acquiring an additional 33,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2,174.2% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 126,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,676,000 after acquiring an additional 120,819 shares during 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.