AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $166.17 and last traded at $165.32. 1,037,793 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 5,449,917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.37.

AbbVie Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $190.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $294.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.84, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Second Line Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $379,000. TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 403,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 12.6% in the third quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 19.1% in the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 8,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,888,000. Hedge funds and other 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.