AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 4.3% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price rose 4.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $237.04 and last traded at $233.65. Approximately 9,772,217 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average daily volume of 7,895,978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.93.

Trending Headlines about AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple clinical and pipeline updates point to ongoing product-cycle growth (Phase 1 ABBV?243 safety data, progress on icalcaprant, and completed real?world studies for Rinvoq and upadacitinib), supporting longer?term revenue diversification away from Humira. ABBV?243 Phase 1 Trial
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other analysts highlight immunology momentum — strong Skyrizi and Rinvoq demand is expected to help offset Humira LOE, which is a constructive revenue thesis for FY?2025/2026. Zacks: Immunology expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend-focused coverage (Seeking Alpha pieces) and a recent buy rating from Berenberg support income?oriented and value investors who view ABBV’s payout and yield as a stabilizer. Seeking Alpha: Dividend thesis Berenberg buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Press swirl about potential suitors for Revolution Medicines (reports that Merck may be in talks) creates market noise that can influence sector comps and M&A speculation but does not change AbbVie’s fundamentals unless a deal is announced. FT: Merck talks on Revolution
• Negative Sentiment: AbbVie publicly denied reports it was in talks to acquire Revolution Medicines after earlier speculation drove gains in both names; the denial removed the takeover premium and likely triggered short?term selling pressure. Barron’s: AbbVie denies talks
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s updated Q4 and FY?2025 EPS guidance came in at the low end or slightly below consensus (Q4: 3.320–3.360 vs. cons. 3.360; FY: 10.610–10.650 vs. cons. 10.650), which can cap near?term upside and weigh on sentiment. (Company guidance update)
• Negative Sentiment: AbbVie flagged IPR&D and related expenses that will negatively impact Q4 EPS, a known near?term earnings headwind highlighted by Seeking Alpha coverage. Seeking Alpha: IPR&D Q4 EPS impact

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $237.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.89.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.8%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.12. The firm has a market cap of $388.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 166.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.36.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.09. AbbVie had a return on equity of 3,216.47% and a net margin of 4.00%.The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. AbbVie has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.320-3.360 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 496.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,747,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,155,601,000 after acquiring an additional 448,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,178,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,240,169,000 after purchasing an additional 924,761 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,783,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,970,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517,222 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,288,200,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in AbbVie by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,004,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,426,000 after purchasing an additional 493,420 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AbbVie

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.