AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Still a Buy?

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $197.50 and a 200 day moving average of $188.95. The firm has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value 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 $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % 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 valued at $11,067,025 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.