Guggenheim Reaffirms Buy Rating for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

Guggenheim reissued their buy rating on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a $214.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.71.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $172.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.64 billion, a PE ratio of 71.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’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. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,144,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.