AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 1.6% – Still a Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was up 1.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $184.00 and last traded at $184.00. Approximately 1,001,152 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,535,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market cap of $323.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $188.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,382,000 after purchasing an additional 134,239 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after purchasing an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after buying an additional 373,802 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.