AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 0.1%

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) dropped 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $183.59 and last traded at $186.54. Approximately 926,491 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 5,542,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. HSBC upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.71.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.8 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $168.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.38, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,229,888,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $499,955,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in AbbVie by 249.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,310 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in AbbVie by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.