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

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $205.70.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $175.42 on Wednesday. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $151.29 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $183.83 and its 200-day moving average is $183.39. The company has a market capitalization of $309.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $321,000. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL increased its position in AbbVie by 3.0% in the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 30,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,047,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 12.4% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $489,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $4,768,000. 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.