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

Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a market perform rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock.

ABBV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.47.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $188.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $333.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $199.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $194.44 and its 200-day moving average is $177.74.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Coast Financial LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. FCG Investment Co bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,413,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 65.6% during the 1st quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 97,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,726,000 after purchasing an additional 38,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in AbbVie by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by 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.