AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $258.45 and last traded at $259.20, with a volume of 817884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $251.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. DZ Bank upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $249.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, June 8th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $235.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, May 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued 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 target price of $253.81.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.1%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $220.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.30. The company has a market capitalization of $460.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.30.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 340.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. SWP Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. SWP Investment Management LLC now owns 13,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,378,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 25,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,511,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Adelphi Trust Co boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Adelphi Trust Co now owns 10,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,633,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VectorGlobal IAG Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $10,864,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.