AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Down 0.5% After Insider Selling

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $170.34 and last traded at $172.20. 1,179,325 shares traded hands 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 firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.70.

AbbVie Stock Performance

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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $183.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.10 billion, a PE ratio of 59.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 227.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

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