AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Rating Increased to Buy at Berenberg Bank

Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $270.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $170.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.68.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE ABBV opened at $220.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $388.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $221.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,800,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

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.