AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price shot up 0.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $201.80 and last traded at $201.43. 526,273 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 5,302,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $218.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.72.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $354.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.25.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 226.99% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $646,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 25,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,733,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Benedetti & Gucer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at $267,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth about $1,751,000. 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.