Wolfe Research Begins Coverage on AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.89.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $166.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie has a twelve month low of $137.14 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a market capitalization of $293.80 billion, a PE ratio of 57.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in AbbVie by 249.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,310 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in AbbVie by 6.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at about $367,372,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in AbbVie by 13.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,744,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,956,518,000 after buying an additional 1,291,201 shares in 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.