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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) fell 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $373.66 billion, a PE ratio of 88.26, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.14 and a 200 day moving average of $188.48.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $229,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $3,213,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $981,000. Thoma Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $551,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,347,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.