AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was up 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $202.16 and last traded at $202.14. Approximately 1,003,202 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,691,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $359.87 billion, a PE ratio of 84.84, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $180.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.29.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 196.4% during the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.