AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Upgraded at StockNews.com

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $214.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.32.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $6.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $192.43. 10,397,934 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,062,959. The business's fifty day moving average price is $196.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $340.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company'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 owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

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.

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