AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 1.4% – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares dropped 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $228.00 and last traded at $229.75. Approximately 4,185,702 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 6,387,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on AbbVie from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Erste Group Bank lowered AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $256.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.14.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.95. The stock has a market cap of $406.06 billion, a PE ratio of 109.41, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.09. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. AbbVie has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.320-3.360 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 524.24%.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WBI Investments LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 4,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.5% during the third quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 36,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,373,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% during the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 7,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $735,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 56.7% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 13,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,084,000 after buying an additional 4,821 shares during the period. 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.