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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $173.84 and last traded at $174.26. 740,975 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,515,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.65.

AbbVie Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $306.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $184.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current 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 paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 555.3% in the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 7,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 6,602 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.3% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,506,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,894,000 after acquiring an additional 184,749 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 29,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,089,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.