AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.2% Higher – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price was up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $215.64 and last traded at $214.8550. Approximately 3,794,239 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 6,984,424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Barclays began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, February 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AbbVie from $294.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.43.

AbbVie Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $379.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $209.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.73.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 576.45% and a net margin of 5.79%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $5,147,630.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,771,510. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,868.24. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,306,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,438 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,940,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,494,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119,274 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,629,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,179,099,000 after buying an additional 4,190,487 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,824,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,900,617,000 after buying an additional 356,394 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $5,865,055,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.