AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 4.2% – Time to Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares rose 4.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $254.54 and last traded at $254.2920. 6,240,800 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 7,156,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $244.11.

AbbVie News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have turned more constructive on AbbVie, with recent target increases and a “Moderate Buy” average brokerage rating highlighting confidence in its immunology and broader biopharma outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie’s neuroscience franchise is expected to post solid second-quarter growth, with key brands and Vyalev in focus as investors look ahead to the company’s July 31 earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles debating whether AbbVie is fully valued after Tepkinly and whether the stock looks expensive after its strong multi-year run point to valuation concerns, but they do not appear to be dominating today’s move.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching recent clinical and regulatory updates, including filings for RINVOQ in alopecia areata and SKYRIZI in Crohn’s disease, which support the long-term growth story but are more of a pipeline backdrop than a direct catalyst.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABBV. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $234.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $235.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.67.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $449.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $227.70 and its 200-day moving average is $221.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.22 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 22,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,072,000 after buying an additional 3,401 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in AbbVie by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 16,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 120,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,281,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 117.3% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,135,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,685,000 after acquiring an additional 612,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.