AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 1.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $229.79 and last traded at $225.7640. Approximately 5,384,903 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 7,132,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their price target on AbbVie from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AbbVie from $261.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 target price on shares of AbbVie and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.37.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $224.40 and a 200 day moving average of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $399.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 171.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.36.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.09. AbbVie had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 3,216.47%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Conning Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 191,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,458,000 after purchasing an additional 12,690 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in AbbVie by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 57,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,215,000 after buying an additional 10,891 shares in the last quarter. Dohj LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 33.0% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 853,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,723,000 after buying an additional 211,800 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.