AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $203.35 and last traded at $203.18. 873,374 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,259,850 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial upped their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $362.85 billion, a PE ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $197.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.02.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares during the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $217,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth $1,436,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $152,000. 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.