Scotiabank Upgrades AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) to Strong-Buy

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) was upgraded by stock analysts at Scotiabank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ABBV. Wall Street Zen upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $256.00 price objective on AbbVie in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.55.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $232.43. 5,433,897 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,398,759. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $224.49 and its 200-day moving average is $203.63. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The stock has a market cap of $410.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. AbbVie has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.320-3.360 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Amundi raised its holdings in AbbVie by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,508,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,909,000 after buying an additional 1,414,621 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 65,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,471,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,674,000 after buying an additional 238,215 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP grew its holdings in AbbVie by 4.6% in the third quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 294,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,119,000 after purchasing an additional 12,893 shares during the period. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 22,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,307,000 after buying an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently 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.