AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 2.6% Following Strong Earnings

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) were up 2.6% on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $186.11 and last traded at $180.84. Approximately 3,136,336 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 5,518,775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.21.

The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 186.82%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $191.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,229,888,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after acquiring an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $499,955,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in AbbVie by 249.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120,310 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in AbbVie by 6.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after acquiring an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.55.

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.