AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Upgraded by Erste Group Bank to Strong-Buy Rating

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.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ABBV. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised 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. Finally, Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8 %

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

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.31 earnings per share 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.