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

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $251.00 price objective on AbbVie in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.90.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ABBV opened at $230.88 on Friday. AbbVie has a fifty-two week low of $163.81 and a fifty-two week high of $244.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $214.84 and a 200 day moving average of $196.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $407.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at $26,000. TD Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at $30,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.