AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $157.93.

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on AbbVie from $150.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 12th. Redburn Partners began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 8th.

In other AbbVie news, EVP Henry O. Gosebruch sold 15,000 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.26, for a total value of $2,223,900.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Durkin sold 18,628 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.01, for a total value of $2,794,386.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 106,819 shares of company stock worth $16,155,094 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 12,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 4.7% in the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after buying an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.0% during the third quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 26,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,805,000 after buying an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 237.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 185,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 130,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 364,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,290,000 after acquiring an additional 120,309 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $162.58 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $154.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.39. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $105.56 and a 1-year high of $175.91. The firm has a market cap of $287.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.16.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 2nd. The company reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 20.54%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 14.16 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, April 15th will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 13th. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.44%.

About AbbVie (Get Rating)

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals in the worldwide. The company offers HUMIRA, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases; SKYRIZI to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults; RINVOQ, a JAK inhibitor for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients; IMBRUVICA to treat adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), and VENCLEXTA, a BCL-2 inhibitor used to treat adults with CLL or SLL; and MAVYRET to treat patients with chronic HCV genotype 1-6 infection.

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