AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC set a $225.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.90.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1%

ABBV opened at $230.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $214.84 and its 200 day moving average is $196.76. AbbVie has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.94, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 312.38%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Diversified Enterprises LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 9,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in AbbVie by 8.2% during the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 20,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 30.9% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its stake in AbbVie by 93.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,434,000 after acquiring an additional 15,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seneca House Advisors grew its stake in AbbVie by 4.0% during the third quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 2,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.