AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 2.2% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) rose 2.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $235.31 and last traded at $235.04. Approximately 7,182,460 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 6,780,022 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.01.

AbbVie News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie agreed to buy Apogee Therapeutics for $135.11 per share in cash, a deal that adds late-stage immunology and respiratory candidates and could support long-term growth. Reuters: AbbVie strikes $10.9 billion deal for Apogee Therapeutics
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said the Apogee acquisition may be dilutive near term but should help AbbVie’s immunology franchise over the long run, reinforcing confidence in the company’s pipeline strategy. Benzinga: AbbVie’s Costly Apogee Acquisition Has Long-Term Upside: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie also won European Commission approval for SKYRIZI in pediatric plaque psoriasis, expanding the drug’s label and adding another growth catalyst for its immunology portfolio. PR Newswire: AbbVie Announces European Commission Approval of SKYRIZI
• Positive Sentiment: The European Commission also approved MAVIRET for acute hepatitis C infection, making it the only EU-approved treatment for both acute and chronic HCV infection and supporting AbbVie’s infectious-disease franchise. PR Newswire: AbbVie Announces European Commission Approval of MAVIRET
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed its overweight rating and raised its price target to $298, signaling further upside if the pipeline expansion and recent approvals translate into stronger earnings growth. Benzinga: Piper Sandler reaffirmed overweight rating on AbbVie

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $234.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.81.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.2%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $212.53 and a 200 day moving average of $218.76. The stock has a market cap of $415.27 billion, a PE ratio of 115.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 340.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LFG Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. LFG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 30,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,661,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 75,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,434,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Evansbrook LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 1.4% during the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 3,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthquest Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $787,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.