AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.6% After Analyst Upgrade

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares shot up 0.6% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $240.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $211.13 and last traded at $209.01. 1,149,669 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 5,996,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.76.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ABBV. UBS Group upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target 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 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.27 and a 200 day moving average of $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

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.