Citigroup Reaffirms Neutral Rating for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Citigroup in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $205.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $210.00. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised 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. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.95.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $187.95 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm has a market cap of $332.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.31, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’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 owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 7,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.3% in the first quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 2,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 278.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 14,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 10,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $2,110,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.