Leerink Partnrs Has Weak Forecast for AbbVie FY2024 Earnings

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) – Leerink Partnrs decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of AbbVie in a report released on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs analyst D. Risinger now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $10.06 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $10.94. Leerink Partnrs has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for AbbVie’s current full-year earnings is $10.96 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for AbbVie’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.10 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $178.65 on Thursday. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $179.54 and its 200 day moving average is $184.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $315.70 billion, a PE ratio of 62.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter valued at $443,000. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 9.9% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 28,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 29.4% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.8% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 838,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,804,000 after acquiring an additional 30,848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.