AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Receives Hold (C) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• AbbVie has received a "hold (C)" rating from Weiss Ratings, reflecting a cautious outlook amid varied analyst ratings.
• Recent earnings showed a decline in Earnings Per Share (EPS) to $2.97, missing estimates by $0.27, despite a revenue rise to $15.42 billion.
• Institutional investors own approximately 70.23% of AbbVie's stock, indicating strong support from large investment firms.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $251.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC set a $225.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.80.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of ABBV traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $227.67. 1,567,640 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,415,550. The company has a market cap of $402.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.51. AbbVie has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock's 50-day moving average is $220.26 and its 200-day moving average is $198.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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 value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. This trade represents 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. TD Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st 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 purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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