AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies reiterated their overweight rating on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a report published on Tuesday,Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage currently has a $220.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.70.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $171.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $303.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $182.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $151.29 and a 1-year high of $207.32.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.