AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Given “Overweight” Rating at Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a research note released on Tuesday,Stock Target Advisor reports. Piper Sandler Companies currently has a $220.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ABBV. William Blair raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.70.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $175.42 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.91, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie has a twelve month low of $151.29 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.