AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Up 2.6% – What’s Next?

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price rose 2.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $230.79 and last traded at $230.3150. Approximately 4,871,792 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 6,379,429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $224.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.85.

AbbVie Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $399.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 171.39, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $228.30 and its 200-day moving average is $208.19.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.09. AbbVie had a return on equity of 3,216.47% and a net margin of 4.00%.The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. AbbVie has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.320-3.360 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $1.73 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 496.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $4,288,200,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at about $1,819,154,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 457.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,536,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,714,000 after purchasing an additional 8,646,424 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 18,384.4% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,705,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,141,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 550.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,332,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $804,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,666,521 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.