AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $195.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $189.56 and last traded at $188.82. Approximately 1,031,957 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 5,278,659 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.57.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $194.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.76. The firm has a market cap of $333.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

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.