AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) traded up 0.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $175.20 and last traded at $172.78. 8,474,425 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average session volume of 5,997,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABBV. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $214.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $198.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently 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.