AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Raised to Outperform at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $206.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $176.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie has a twelve month low of $137.65 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $189.47 and its 200 day moving average is $181.32. The company has a market cap of $312.70 billion, a PE ratio of 61.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $646,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. purchased a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in AbbVie by 310.2% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,025,000 after buying an additional 20,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.