Wall Street Zen Downgrades AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from "strong-buy" to "buy," while the Street consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of about $253 (2 Strong Buy, 14 Buy, 9 Hold).
• AbbVie beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.71 vs. $2.65; revenue $16.62B, up 10% YoY) but faces a near-term negative catalyst after lowering Q1 and FY2026 EPS guidance (Q1: 2.560–2.600; FY: 13.960–14.160), below prior consensus.
• Insiders executed sizable stock sales (EVP sold ~22,381 shares for ~$5.15M; SVP sold 5,230 shares) even as large institutions like Vanguard and State Street increased positions, leaving ~70% of shares held by institutions.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on AbbVie from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on AbbVie from $289.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on AbbVie from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.00.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $208.22 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $220.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.01. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $168.54 and a 1 year high of $244.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $368.16 billion, a PE ratio of 88.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.38.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.06. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 1,579.75% and a net margin of 6.91%.The company had revenue of $16.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. AbbVie has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.370-14.570 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.970-3.010 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,771,510. The trade was a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 180,779,699 shares of the company's stock worth $41,306,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,438 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,940,931 shares of the company's stock worth $18,494,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119,274 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,629,980 shares of the company's stock worth $10,179,099,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190,487 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,824,399 shares of the company's stock worth $5,900,617,000 after purchasing an additional 356,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,865,055,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim raised its price target on ABBV to $249 and reiterated a Buy, signaling upside from analysts who still favor the name. Guggenheim Reiterates Buy Rating on Abbvie (ABBV)
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~19.9% in March (to ~20.1M shares), reducing short-pressure and the risk of further downside driven by short covering dynamics; days-to-cover near 2.5.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and features continue to highlight AbbVie's successful product transition: Skyrizi and Rinvoq are driving strong immunology growth that offsets Humira erosion — supportive for medium-term revenue and dividend durability. Battle of Big Pharma: Is AbbVie Stock Pulling Ahead of Pfizer?
• Neutral Sentiment: AbbVie has launched legal action challenging the federal 340B patient definition — this could protect pricing/discount exposure if successful but outcome and timing are uncertain. AbbVie challenges 'outdated' 340B drug discount program guidance in new lawsuit
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend-focused coverage continues to list ABBV among reliable dividend names (Dividend Aristocrat), reinforcing long-term income investor interest but not an immediate price catalyst. 3 Dividend Aristocrats Whose Yields Can Help Combat Inflation
• Negative Sentiment: AbbVie lowered its Q1 and FY 2026 EPS guidance (Q1: 2.560–2.600 vs. consensus ~3.01; FY: 13.960–14.160 vs. consensus ~14.56), which is the primary near-term negative catalyst—investors often sell when guidance trails consensus.
• Negative Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its target to $240 and warned that the upcoming Q1 season may not materially re‑energize sentiment, reinforcing caution after AbbVie's guidance revision. Cantor Fitzgerald Lowers AbbVie (ABBV) Target, Sees Weak Pharma Catalyst Ahead
• Negative Sentiment: RBC said first-quarter results are likely to land inside AbbVie's guidance and may not lift investor sentiment — a signal that the report could be bland relative to expectations. AbbVie First-Quarter Earnings Unlikely to Lift Sentiment, RBC Says
• Negative Sentiment: Broader health-care sector weakness late Friday weighed on ABBV alongside idiosyncratic negatives, amplifying downward pressure. Sector Update: Health Care Stocks Fall Late Afternoon

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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