AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $215.00 to $240.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.89% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $231.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.10.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $218.40 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $200.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $221.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.00, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.53.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,298,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,910,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,842 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,178,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,240,169,000 after acquiring an additional 924,761 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,783,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,970,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517,222 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,288,200,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after purchasing an additional 189,294 shares during the last quarter. 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.