Wells Fargo & Company Boosts AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Price Target to $205.00

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $200.00 to $205.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

ABBV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC upgraded AbbVie from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $188.71.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $185.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93. AbbVie has a fifty-two week low of $135.85 and a fifty-two week high of $186.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.63. The firm has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a PE ratio of 54.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 186.82% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 282,845 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $49,497,875.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 513,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,792,325. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $3,229,888,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after buying an additional 9,978,415 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $499,955,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in AbbVie by 249.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in AbbVie by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after acquiring an additional 3,110,601 shares during 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.