AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Down 3.4% - Should You Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 3.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $181.69 and last traded at $181.53. Approximately 2,603,513 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 6,163,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 target price (down previously from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.95.

AbbVie Trading Down 4.8%

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 business has a 50 day moving average of $193.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $316.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was 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 Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 18.2% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 17,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644 shares during the period. Barnes Wealth Management Group Inc lifted its stake in AbbVie by 4.7% in the first quarter. Barnes Wealth Management Group Inc now owns 1,320 shares of the company's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in AbbVie by 15.3% in the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 91,995 shares of the company's stock worth $19,275,000 after acquiring an additional 12,179 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 9.6% in the first quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 106,882 shares of the company's stock worth $22,392,000 after acquiring an additional 9,338 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 59,446 shares of the company's stock worth $12,455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,701 shares during the period. 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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