AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 1.4% - Here's Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $185.41 and last traded at $187.32. 1,758,818 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 6,144,183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.95.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $192.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $314.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter worth approximately $1,819,154,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,190,951,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is 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.