AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five 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. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $205.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

ABBV stock opened at $171.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.60. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

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.