AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Down 0.5% on Insider Selling

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares traded down 0.5% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $170.34 and last traded at $172.20. Approximately 1,179,325 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 5,533,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.02.

Specifically, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.70.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.32. The company has a market capitalization of $304.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 227.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% during the second quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 5,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $881,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 67,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,583,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 7,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,354,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Diversified LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 7,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 2,292 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.