Sanford C. Bernstein Begins Coverage on AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a market perform rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.47.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $188.86 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The stock has a market cap of $333.50 billion, a PE ratio of 56.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Violich Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the third quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,157,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,110,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.4% in the third quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 28,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,547,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 8.4% in the third quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 106.1% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.