AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price was up 0.1% during trading on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $196.00 to $209.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $197.95 and last traded at $197.84. Approximately 430,561 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 5,461,417 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.55.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now 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 accessible through this link. In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $349.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $178.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

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.