AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $203.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the period. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in AbbVie by 308.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,624,000 after acquiring an additional 24,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 23.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $182.93 on Friday. AbbVie has a one year low of $138.01 and a one year 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $188.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.75. The stock has a market cap of $323.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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 business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

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.