AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price was up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $178.57 and last traded at $178.02. Approximately 1,862,537 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 5,533,817 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $318.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.81, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.44.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

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

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.