AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 1.6% – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 1.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $184.00 and last traded at $184.00. 1,001,152 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,535,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $323.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in AbbVie by 5.4% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 209,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,364,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 113,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,389,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its stake in AbbVie by 68.1% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 3,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in AbbVie by 157.0% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 82,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,237,000 after acquiring an additional 50,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $18,015,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.