Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its target price lifted by Citigroup from $215.00 to $226.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $203.55 on Thursday. AbbVie has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.60. The company has a market cap of $359.54 billion, a PE ratio of 70.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 226.99% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 17 Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 105.2% in the third quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 7,899 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 170,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,694,000 after acquiring an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.