AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price was up 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $199.79 and last traded at $199.70. Approximately 711,943 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,704,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.64 billion, a PE ratio of 84.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS 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 paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% during the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 23.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. 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.