Sanford C. Bernstein Begins Coverage on AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.47.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $188.86 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $194.44 and its 200-day moving average is $177.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 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 has a 12-month low of $135.85 and a 12-month high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.