AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $207.42 and last traded at $206.56, with a volume of 385453 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $205.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $183.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.85.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth $8,777,000. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 20.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 569.4% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after buying an additional 8,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiducient Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% in the third quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.