AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 1.1% – Still a Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) rose 1.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $184.24 and last traded at $183.08. 5,271,481 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 5,555,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market cap of $323.53 billion, a PE ratio of 63.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $188.65 and its 200 day moving average is $181.59.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. 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 3.58%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,697 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 50,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $18,015,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.