AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Down 1.6%

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price fell 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $193.92 and last traded at $193.92. 820,061 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 5,402,866 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two equities 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 MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $182.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.37. The company has a market capitalization of $340.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. 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 Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $37,000. 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.