AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price rose 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $206.01 and last traded at $204.90. Approximately 1,906,695 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 5,733,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $359.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $181.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares during the period. 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.