Piper Jaffray analyst Christopher Raymond noted that after "an unexpected (and somewhat alarming) mid-day trading halt," AbbVie announced its board's approval of a new capital allocation plan, as the company had indicated was in the works. Following the buyback increase and dividend hike, Raymond said the dividend yield rises to an "impressive" 3.5% and he now models the company repurchasing over 105M shares between 2018 and 2020. Given the impact of the buybacks on his EPS estimates, Raymond raised his price target on AbbVie shares to $138 from $130 and he keeps an Overweight rating on the stock.