AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.5% Higher

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 1.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $194.80 and last traded at $194.73. Approximately 523,042 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 5,350,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $191.64.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business's fifty day moving average price is $191.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $343.96 billion, a PE ratio of 57.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in AbbVie by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company's stock worth $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,698,847,000 after acquiring an additional 992,496 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,620,382,000 after acquiring an additional 134,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

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.