AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Short Interest Update

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,130,000 shares, a growth of 12.1% from the October 15th total of 16,180,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $166.26. 8,336,853 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,482,502. The company has a market cap of $293.80 billion, a PE ratio of 57.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.08. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $137.14 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.89.

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.