AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Upgraded at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.8 %

AbbVie stock opened at $212.21 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $374.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.42, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.48. AbbVie has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,466,971 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,064,773,000 after buying an additional 3,373,156 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.