AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Short Interest Update

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,000,000 shares, a decline of 8.3% from the December 15th total of 18,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Barclays increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five 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, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE ABBV traded down $2.21 on Friday, reaching $171.49. The company had a trading volume of 7,581,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,943,678. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company's fifty day moving average is $175.78 and its 200 day moving average is $184.60. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company's stock worth $2,620,382,000 after buying an additional 134,239 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after buying an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company's stock worth $1,842,642,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares in 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.