AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares traded down 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $211.11 and last traded at $211.88. 691,856 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,190,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $194.49 and a 200 day moving average of $188.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The company has a market cap of $370.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 prior year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares during the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,169,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by 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.