AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $241.00 to $250.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 28.11% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ABBV. StockNews.com cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock traded up $1.64 on Monday, reaching $195.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,393,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,076,401. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $196.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.16. 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 $345.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,284 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.