AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price rose 1.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $180.19 and last traded at $179.43. Approximately 2,068,007 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 5,505,530 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several research reports. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $188.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.58. The firm has a market cap of $323.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.0% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after buying an additional 2,657 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 308.1% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,624,000 after buying an additional 24,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 23.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after buying an additional 10,768 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.