Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $204.00 to $205.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.93% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $214.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.32.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.1 %

AbbVie stock traded up $2.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $188.20. 2,033,268 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,152,504. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $196.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 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.