AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $248.78 and last traded at $247.6990, with a volume of 607132 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $243.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $298.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.81.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $214.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.96. The company has a market capitalization of $438.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 340.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 56.2% in the 4th quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 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.