AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) traded up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $257.06 and last traded at $256.18. Approximately 4,267,353 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 7,100,591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $253.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Citigroup raised their target price on AbbVie from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $298.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.10.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $232.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.32 billion, a PE ratio of 125.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.30.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 340.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 37.0% in the first quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,017 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 182,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,694,000 after buying an additional 5,063 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 466,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,543,000 after buying an additional 15,458 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 36,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,355,000 after buying an additional 6,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.