AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 0.4% on Analyst Upgrade

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price was up 0.4% during trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $195.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $181.38 and last traded at $181.05. Approximately 662,827 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,616,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.35.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. HSBC downgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 218.4% during the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 242 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.81. The stock has a market cap of $321.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.32, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 227.11%.

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.