AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares dropped 1.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $212.50 and last traded at $213.40. Approximately 1,836,660 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 6,043,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $216.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $189.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.89. The stock has a market cap of $372.83 billion, a PE ratio of 88.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 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.