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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) shares shot up 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $178.48 and last traded at $178.16. 3,668,907 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 6,200,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price target (down previously from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.95.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $327.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

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

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock worth $36,439,271,000 after acquiring an additional 845,787 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company's stock worth $6,586,948,000 after buying an additional 983,888 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,038,898,000 after buying an additional 778,126 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently 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.