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

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $190.29.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $195.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,792,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $196.53 on Thursday. AbbVie has a fifty-two week low of $135.85 and a fifty-two week high of $197.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $347.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.32, a PEG 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were given 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 yield of 3.15%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

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.