AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $205.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim increased their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $171.49 on Friday. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.78 and a 200-day moving average of $184.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm 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 revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 2,696 shares during the period. Finally, Schiavi & Co LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.1% during the second quarter. Schiavi & Co LLC now owns 3,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is 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.