AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 2.9% – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares rose 2.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $177.36 and last traded at $176.77. Approximately 2,024,944 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 5,479,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $189.81 and a 200-day moving average of $180.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.38, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm 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 was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $367,372,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 13.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,744,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,956,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,201 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in 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 period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,240,434 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.