AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price dropped 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $173.85 and last traded at $175.46. Approximately 703,758 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 5,498,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.65.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.37 billion, a PE ratio of 60.17, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in AbbVie by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 88,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,457,000 after buying an additional 5,175 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 95,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.3% during the second quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 8,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 4,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 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.