AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Earns “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Guggenheim in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.61% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ABBV. UBS Group increased their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.71.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $173.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,042,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,965,746. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $199.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.26 billion, a PE ratio of 72.18, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 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.