AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.02.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “hold” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Leerink Swann set a $71.00 target price on shares of AbbVie and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Deutsche Bank AG boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Vetr downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $74.98 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, May 26th.

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AbbVie (NYSE ABBV) traded up 0.84% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.63. 4,960,177 shares of the company were exchanged. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.21 and its 200-day moving average is $65.76. AbbVie has a 12-month low of $55.06 and a 12-month high of $75.04. The company has a market cap of $118.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34 and a beta of 1.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.02. AbbVie had a net margin of 24.07% and a return on equity of 148.83%. The company had revenue of $6.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie will post $5.53 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 14th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 12th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 66.32%.

In other AbbVie news, EVP Carlos Alban sold 45,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $3,206,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 160,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,238,150. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO William J. Chase sold 38,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.35, for a total value of $2,502,905.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 209,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,660,960.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 278,135 shares of company stock valued at $18,841,085 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,969,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,754,696,000 after buying an additional 1,696,042 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $823,984,000. Glenview Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $570,905,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the first quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,918,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $515,956,000 after buying an additional 312,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 5,485,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,496,000 after buying an additional 579,378 shares in the last quarter. 68.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc (AbbVie) is a research-based biopharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a range of pharmaceutical products. Its products are focused on treating conditions, such as chronic autoimmune diseases in rheumatology, gastroenterology and dermatology; oncology, including blood cancers; virology, including hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis; metabolic diseases, including thyroid disease and complications associated with cystic fibrosis, and other serious health conditions.