AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Hits New 12-Month High on Strong Earnings

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $205.35 and last traded at $205.13, with a volume of 43616 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $201.50.

The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Professional Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% in the third quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.0 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $193.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.91. 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 company has a market cap of $362.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.78, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63.

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.