Morgan Stanley Lowers AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Price Target to $224.00

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $231.00 to $224.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ABBV. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.89.

AbbVie Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $164.91 on Tuesday. AbbVie has a 12 month low of $137.05 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.89, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that AbbVie will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.