AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $171.21 and last traded at $172.03. Approximately 1,282,219 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 7,086,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $214.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued a “hold” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.71.

AbbVie Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a market cap of $299.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $198.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.71. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.