AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares rose 0.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $166.17 and last traded at $165.32. Approximately 1,037,793 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,449,917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.89.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $293.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GGM Financials LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 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.