AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 1.8%

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 1.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $167.44 and last traded at $167.14. 1,193,372 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 5,592,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1 %

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 market capitalization of $294.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.10.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.18 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 138,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,159,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.6% during the first quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 10,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $10,194,000. Finally, FCG Investment Co acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter worth approximately $1,413,000. Institutional investors 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.