AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $204.19 and last traded at $202.83. 1,360,377 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 5,262,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $362.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.38, 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 current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $196.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.96.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Peninsula Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.