Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company to $195.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ABBV. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $176.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $312.68 billion, a PE ratio of 61.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $189.47 and its 200-day moving average is $181.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $137.65 and a 52 week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for 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%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp lifted its stake in AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in AbbVie by 9.0% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its position in AbbVie by 308.1% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,624,000 after buying an additional 24,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after buying an additional 10,768 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.