AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Short Interest Update

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,120,000 shares, a decrease of 10.7% from the March 15th total of 14,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $162.54 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock has a market cap of $287.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company 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 $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 dividend yield of 3.81%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, COO Robert A. Michael sold 68,879 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.45, for a total transaction of $12,153,699.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 98,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,405,910.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is 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.