AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Cut to "Hold" at Hsbc Global Res

Key Points

• AbbVie has been downgraded by Hsbc Global Res from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts have issued varying ratings, with an average target price of $223.45 and several maintaining "overweight" ratings.
• The company reported $2.97 EPS in its latest quarterly earnings, missing expectations, but showed a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.6% to $15.42 billion.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $244.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.71. The company has a market cap of $432.40 billion, a PE ratio of 116.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,288,200,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,612,357,000 after acquiring an additional 189,294 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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