AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Down 0.9% – Time to Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price fell 0.9% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $211.59 and last traded at $211.99. 942,393 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,200,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $372.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.31.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sky Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.