AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Leerink Partnrs

Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for AbbVie’s FY2026 earnings at $13.69 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $15.36 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $16.79 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on ABBV. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Up 3.0 %

ABBV stock opened at $176.94 on Friday. AbbVie has a one year low of $137.65 and a one year high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $312.68 billion, a PE ratio of 61.44, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $189.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in AbbVie by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 308.1% in 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. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.