AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s stock price dropped 0.5% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $200.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AbbVie traded as low as $168.66 and last traded at $169.55. Approximately 1,429,943 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 5,411,837 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.35.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.89.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.89, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.63. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

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.