AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price fell 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $208.88 and last traded at $210.15. 890,908 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 5,984,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $371.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 196.4% during the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.