AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) were down 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $187.50 and last traded at $188.25. Approximately 845,485 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 5,270,121 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.47.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $332.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.01.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.