AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 0.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $211.89 and last traded at $212.15. 1,721,052 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 5,958,205 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target 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. Five research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $186.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.47. The stock has a market cap of $377.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $632,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $2,343,000. AG Asset Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.