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

Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock to $195.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has a buy rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as high as $167.20 and last traded at $166.66. 758,224 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 5,460,177 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.57.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.37.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GGM Financials LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $296.42 billion, a PE ratio of 58.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

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.