AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.6% After Analyst Upgrade

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) was up 0.6% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $240.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $211.13 and last traded at $209.01. Approximately 1,149,669 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,996,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.76.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 in the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company's stock worth $424,014,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company's stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.5% during the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 22,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,413,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.0% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $373.57 billion, a PE ratio of 88.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $186.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.