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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $194.67.

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 58,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 10,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,655,000 after buying an additional 5,616 shares during the period. Cutler Capital Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 220,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,128,000 after purchasing an additional 10,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,893,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,440,000 after purchasing an additional 60,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $192.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $193.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.95. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $199.95. The company has a market cap of $340.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.27, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

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.