AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Receives Neutral Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America reiterated their neutral rating on shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Bank of America currently has a $191.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.19.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $175.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.67. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $150.16 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $310.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.03, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.58. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS 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 company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in AbbVie by 308.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,624,000 after acquiring an additional 24,756 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth $213,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in AbbVie by 5.3% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 4,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Country Club Bank boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 5.6% during the second quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 10,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,702,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth about $224,000. 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.