Zacks Research Brokers Reduce Earnings Estimates for AbbVie

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for AbbVie in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst S. Ganoria now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $2.38 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.50. The consensus estimate for AbbVie's current full-year earnings is $12.31 per share.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $214.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.71.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $172.78. The company had a trading volume of 8,474,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,003,527. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.99. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.99, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company's stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,403,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the company's stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $466,000. 70.23% of the stock is 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.