AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Downgraded to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.95.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $182.32 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $189.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $322.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.97, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 107,693 shares of company stock valued at $22,282,985. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $309,000. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 79,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.