Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $204.00 to $205.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.93% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on ABBV. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.32.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $188.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,033,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,152,504. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $332.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $196.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.13. AbbVie has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AbbVie

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.