AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Coverage Initiated at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.89.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $164.99 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $291.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.04. AbbVie has a one year low of $137.05 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.