AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price rose 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $199.79 and last traded at $199.70. Approximately 711,943 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,704,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $181.25 and a 200-day moving average of $186.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GGM Financials LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Peninsula Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.