AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 0.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $201.80 and last traded at $201.43. 526,273 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 5,302,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AbbVie from $218.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.72.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $354.26 billion, a PE ratio of 69.94, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $194.41 and a 200 day moving average of $180.25.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 226.99% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 308.1% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 24,756 shares in the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $1,349,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 29.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 27,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,333,000 after buying an additional 6,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 6,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 3,301 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.