AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 0.4% - Here's What Happened

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) rose 0.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $188.30 and last traded at $187.85. Approximately 1,184,743 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,073,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $332.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.27.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was 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 in the company, 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, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company's stock worth $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 41,870 shares of the company's stock worth $7,440,000 after buying an additional 1,904 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,629,000. Finally, Innova Wealth Partners raised its stake in AbbVie by 217.9% in the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 3,281 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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