AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.9% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price rose 0.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $214.58 and last traded at $213.72. Approximately 1,023,564 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 5,219,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $379.58 billion, a PE ratio of 89.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $191.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.05.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.