Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on AbbVie from $260 to $280 and kept an outperform rating, implying about 12% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts have also turned more positive, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Guggenheim, and Morgan Stanley, leaving AbbVie with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $260.81.
• AbbVie recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $2.65 per share on $15 billion in revenue, while the stock was trading near $249.63, close to its 1-year high of $261.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $260.00 to $280.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective points to a potential upside of 12.17% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AbbVie from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim increased their price target on AbbVie from $249.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $260.81.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $249.63 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $224.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.06. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $184.63 and a 1-year high of $261.64. The stock has a market cap of $441.04 billion, a PE ratio of 122.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.30.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 576.45%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 14.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 125 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie's product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women's health.

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