AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Trading 0.1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $196.00 to $209.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $197.95 and last traded at $197.84. Approximately 430,561 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 5,461,417 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.55.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ABBV. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 9,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,641,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 30,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after buying an additional 7,737 shares during the period. Finally, West Coast Financial LLC boosted 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $345.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

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.