AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Reaches New 12-Month High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $205.35 and last traded at $205.13, with a volume of 43616 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $201.50.

The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 61.2% in the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $360.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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.