AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Down 2.3%

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price fell 2.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $160.00 and last traded at $162.10. 2,089,446 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 5,607,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. HSBC downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $287.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.44, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently 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.