Leerink Partners Upgrades AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) to Outperform

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Leerink Partners currently has $206.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $177.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.89 billion, a PE ratio of 61.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $137.65 and a 52-week high of $207.32. 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 50-day simple moving average of $189.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.44.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. 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 is presently 227.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 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.