BMO Capital Markets Lowers AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Price Target to $180.00

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price objective reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $195.00 to $180.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $174.31.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $161.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $286.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $173.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.10.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 44,988,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,971,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542,463 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,796,085,000 after purchasing an additional 914,485 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in AbbVie by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,269,822,000 after purchasing an additional 491,391 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.