AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $180.37, but opened at $187.12. AbbVie shares last traded at $183.19, with a volume of 1,902,135 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $214.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.19.

AbbVie Trading Up 3.1 %

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $196.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 279.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock worth $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.