AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.9% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $214.58 and last traded at $213.72. 1,023,564 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,219,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $379.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.58, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.05. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company 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 3.05%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $999,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.