AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 1.6% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• AbbVie's share price fell 1.6% to $230.28 amid increased trading volume, indicating market volatility.
• Research firms have mixed opinions on AbbVie, with price targets ranging from $205 to $255 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• AbbVie will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.64, yielding 2.8%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 1.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $227.92 and last traded at $230.28. Approximately 10,422,098 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 60% from the average daily volume of 6,518,804 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. HSBC set a $225.00 price target on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.22.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $211.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.93.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,298,707 shares of the company's stock worth $32,910,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,842 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,178,351 shares of the company's stock worth $7,240,169,000 after purchasing an additional 924,761 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 6.0% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,783,329 shares of the company's stock worth $4,970,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517,222 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $4,288,200,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after buying an additional 189,294 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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