Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $240.00 to $260.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.05% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.10.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $218.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.00, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.53. AbbVie has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $221.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. TD Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 82.9% in the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.