AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.5% Higher After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 1.5% during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $207.24 and last traded at $204.60. 2,008,164 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 5,301,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.50.

The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after acquiring an additional 9,978,415 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in AbbVie by 6.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,698,847,000 after buying an additional 992,496 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,382,000 after buying an additional 134,239 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after buying an additional 1,240,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $360.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $193.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

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.