AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 1.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $180.19 and last traded at $179.43. 2,068,007 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 5,505,530 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $188.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.55 billion, a PE ratio of 63.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 209,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,364,000 after acquiring an additional 10,697 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 113,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,389,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management grew its stake in AbbVie by 68.1% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 3,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in AbbVie by 157.0% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 82,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,237,000 after buying an additional 50,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,015,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.