William Blair Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at William Blair lifted their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for AbbVie in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 29th. William Blair analyst T. Lugo now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $3.07 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.75. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for AbbVie's current full-year earnings is $11.19 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for AbbVie's Q3 2024 earnings at $2.86 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $3.03 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $13.29 EPS.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.31.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.69. 5,479,940 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,662,850. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $174.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.10. AbbVie has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a market cap of $288.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Lokken Investment Group LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the first quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 9,371 shares of the company's stock worth $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company's stock worth $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Spinnaker Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the company's stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.