AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $188.52 and last traded at $189.55. 1,538,068 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 5,269,552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ABBV shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on AbbVie from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $200.39.

AbbVie Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $193.85 and a 200-day moving average of $178.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.48, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 35,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,431,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 2,055.1% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 139,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,421,000 after purchasing an additional 133,110 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 17,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,247,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Madrona Financial Services LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 3,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.