Analysts Set AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Target Price at $205.70

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $205.70.

Several research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 23.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 57.5% during the third quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,065 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 8.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,377,000 after purchasing an additional 5,993 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $175.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $182.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $151.29 and a 1-year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

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.