AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $213.80 and last traded at $212.62. 1,292,231 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 6,058,437 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.2 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.09 and a 200 day moving average of $188.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in 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 grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.