AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.2% Higher

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $165.92 and last traded at $164.97. 1,168,753 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 5,575,716 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James increased their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $294.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.96, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.10.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lokken Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,776,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its holdings in AbbVie by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 65 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.