AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Here’s Why

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was up 1.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $215.94 and last traded at $215.4230. Approximately 4,516,274 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 6,921,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.12.

Key Stories Impacting AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie received U.S. FDA approval for DECNUPAZ, its first approved blood-cancer ADC, for adults with BPDCN, a very rare and aggressive cancer with limited treatment options. Article
• Positive Sentiment: The European Commission authorized an expanded VENCLYXTO label in CLL, allowing new combination regimens that could broaden use in Europe. Article
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie advanced ABBV-519 into a first-in-human Phase 1 trial, reinforcing its immunology pipeline and future pipeline optionality. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noted that AbbVie has outperformed since its last earnings report, but some commentary still suggests the shares have lagged the broader healthcare sector. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional articles discussed AbbVie’s recent earnings and valuation, with no new material catalyst beyond the company’s post-earnings performance. Article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $262.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, February 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.43.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4%

The stock has a market cap of $384.85 billion, a PE ratio of 107.30, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.68.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15 billion during 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%.AbbVie’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Blue Fin Capital Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% in the first quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 16,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,577,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 7.5% during the first quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 31,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 3,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 1,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capasso Planning Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 97.6% during the 1st quarter. Capasso Planning Partners LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AbbVie

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.